Learjet 60 Crashes in Palm Beach County Killing All Nine Aboard

A Bombardier Learjet 60 crashed in a residential area of Palm Beach County, Florida, on 1 November 2026, killing all nine people on board. The aircraft, registration N722BD, struck the ground near the intersection of Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in the Greenacres-Cresthaven area at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time. No one on the ground was injured, according to local officials, though the impact left a large crater and scattered debris that forced the temporary evacuation of roughly 600 nearby residents.

The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas earlier that day bound for North Eleuthera International Airport in the Bahamas. FAA records list the owner as LR60271 LLC, a Delaware corporation. The aircraft is a 2004 model. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the nine fatalities. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact as cataclysmic and said the plane appeared to go down like a missile.

Air traffic control recordings captured the final minutes in unusual detail. The crew reported moderate turbulence, icing and precipitation while cruising near 35,000 feet and requested a climb. Shortly after clearance to climb, the pilot reported a rapid descent of 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute, and stated the aircraft was in an overspeed condition. The last transmission included the words “we’re out of time.” Flight data showed the jet descending from roughly 35,250 feet to under 9,000 feet in about one minute before impact. Vertical speeds exceeded 30,000 feet per minute in the final seconds. Dashcam video from the ground recorded the near-vertical dive and the fireball on impact.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation. Bombardier stated it would support the inquiry. Early focus includes the icing and turbulence reports, the sudden loss of control, and the overspeed condition. The aircraft had arrived in Austin from Little Rock the previous day. Identities of the nine occupants, including the pilots, have not been released.

The crash site lies about nine miles from Mar-a-Lago. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and sheriff’s deputies secured the scene quickly. Roads in the immediate area remained closed while investigators recovered wreckage. The crater and debris field extended across the roadway and into adjacent property, but structural damage to nearby homes was limited compared with the force of the impact.

Learjet 60 accidents involving high-speed loss of control are rare but have occurred in other icing or systems-failure cases. The combination of reported ice, turbulence and the rapid transition to an unrecoverable dive will be central to the NTSB examination of flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder information once recovered. The investigation is expected to take months.

Local residents described the sound of the impact and the size of the resulting fireball. Several said the event looked like a meteor strike. First responders extinguished residual fires and began the process of identifying the victims through remaining personal effects and aircraft documentation. The FAA and NTSB continue to examine radar tracks and ATC transcripts as the formal investigation proceeds.