Nine Killed as Learjet Crashes Into Florida Neighborhood
A Bahamas-bound jet from Austin went down near Greenacres on Sunday afternoon. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed all nine people aboard died. No deaths on the ground had been confirmed.
A business jet carrying nine people crashed into a South Florida neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, killing everyone aboard.
The Learjet 60 went down around 12:50 p.m. near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, in Palm Beach County. It erupted into a fireball near a mobile home park, just feet from homes and passing cars.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the deaths on Sunday. “All nine people on board were killed,” he said, calling the crash a “horrific tragedy.”
The jet had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Its tail number was N722BD.
Flight tracking data showed the jet dropping about 27,000 feet in roughly a minute before its signal cut out. The cause is not yet known.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office closed Military Trail in both directions and urged drivers to avoid the area. As of Sunday afternoon, officials had not confirmed any deaths or injuries among people on the ground.
The crash site sits about six miles from Mar-a-Lago and four miles from the airport in West Palm Beach.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The FAA is sending a team to support the NTSB.
It is the second-deadliest plane crash in the United States this year, according to NTSB records cited by CNN, after a skydiving plane crash in Missouri in June that killed 12.
The people aboard have not been named. No further details were released on Sunday.
