Learjet crash in Greenacres kills all nine on board
The aircraft descended 27,000 feet in one minute before striking a road near a mobile home park in Palm Beach County.
By Marco Whitaker ·
Residents of Greenacres lost their morning routine to a violent crash that killed everyone on board a small business jet on Sunday. The accident left a smoldering crater in the asphalt of a suburban street and closed the road for the rest of the day.
Federal and local emergency officials identified the aircraft as a Learjet 60. It was a charter flight that left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. The plane was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it went down in Palm Beach County. Authorities have not yet named the nine people who died.
Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange shows the jet fell 27,000 feet in sixty seconds. The signal stopped after this rapid drop. Air traffic control recorded the pilot’s distress calls before impact. The pilot reported descending 8,000 feet at first, then 10,000 feet per minute. He later said the plane was in an overspeed condition, falling 20,000 feet per minute, and that it would crash into the ground.
The jet struck South Military Trail near Cresthaven Boulevard. The impact buckled the road surface. Debris scattered near a mobile home community. First responders arrived to put out the fires and secure the area. They closed Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. No one on the ground was killed or injured, according to officials.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the event a horrific tragedy in a statement posted on social media. Weather stations in the area recorded active thunderstorms and wind gusts near 25 mph at the time of the crash. Data shows the jet flew through a severe weather cell just before the steep descent. Investigators have not confirmed if the weather caused the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration began a joint investigation on Sunday. Federal teams will stay at the crash site for several days. They plan to collect wreckage, review flight recorder data, and analyze the atmospheric conditions along the flight path.
