Nine killed as private jet crashes in Florida residential area

A private Learjet crashed in a residential neighbourhood in Florida’s Palm Beach County on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard, US transportation authorities said.

The aircraft had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was travelling to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Footage circulating on social media appeared to show the jet plunging towards the ground beside a road before erupting into a large fireball.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the incident as a major tragedy during a news conference near the crash site in Lake Worth Beach.

“When you see that video, it’s a jarring thing. It was like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere,” he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also described the incident as a “horrific tragedy”.

Records maintained by the FAA identify a Delaware-registered corporation as the owner of the aircraft, a Bombardier-manufactured Learjet 60.

Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier said it would provide full assistance to investigators and cooperate with the inquiry as required.

The crash left a “massive crater” by the road near the entrance to a mobile home park, Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said at the news conference. About 600 people were being evacuated from the area and relocated to two shelters in the county, Flores said.

Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were occurring in the area at the time, forecaster AccuWeather said in a statement.

An audio recording from a Miami air traffic control center posted on LiveATC, a site that broadcasts air traffic control communications, captured the plane’s final moments before the crash in unusual detail.

At first, someone in the plane’s cockpit reported to an air traffic controller that they were “managing the ice” but faced “moderate” turbulence and were seeking “better rides”.

Less than a minute later, the person said “Mayday, mayday,” reporting that the plane was suddenly descending at a rate of 10,000 feet per minute.

Seconds later, the person said they were declaring an emergency, with the rate of descent accelerating to 20,000 feet per minute.

Less than 20 seconds later, the person said: “We’re going to crash into the ground” before saying that the descent rate had reached 22,000 feet per minute as the plane started banking.

About 35 seconds after the initial mayday announcement, the last thing heard from the cockpit was a rapidly spoken “We’re out of time.”

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said data showed the vertical descent rate at one point exceeded 32,000 feet per minute.