Learjet 60 Crashes in Palm Beach County Killing All Nine Aboard After Icing Reports

On November 1, 2026, a privately owned Bombardier Learjet 60 registered N722BD crashed in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, Florida, after departing Austin-Bergstrom International Airport bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. All nine occupants died. The aircraft struck the ground near South Military Trail in a steep dive, creating a large crater and scattering debris across a residential and commercial area. One person on the ground suffered injuries, and dozens of residents temporarily left their homes while investigators secured the site.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) dispatched a team the same day. In a briefing on November 2, NTSB member Tom Chapman outlined the timeline. The Learjet took off from Austin around 10:37 a.m. local time with two crew members and seven passengers. It climbed to 35,000 feet. At approximately 12:47 p.m., while over Palm Beach County and turning toward Freeport, the crew reported light clear ice they described as manageable, moderate turbulence, and altitude deviations of about 700 feet. The outside air temperature was minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Moments later they reported precipitation and requested a climb to 37,000 feet.

Less than 30 seconds after that request, the crew issued a mayday. At 12:48 p.m. the co-pilot radioed that the aircraft was in an overspeed condition and descending. The remainder of the transmission was unintelligible. The plane then entered a near-vertical dive. Video from the ground showed the jet falling at high speed before impact shortly before 1 p.m. Investigators noted some evidence that components may have begun to separate during the descent, though the probable cause remains under investigation. Recovery of major wreckage from the crater presents a major obstacle. The NTSB expects a preliminary report within 30 days; a final report typically takes one to two years.

The co-pilot was identified as 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras of Boca Raton. She received her pilot’s license at age 17. The aircraft was operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, and registered to a Delaware limited liability company. The Learjet 60 is a midsize business jet first certified in the 1990s; this particular airframe dated to 2004. The crash is the deadliest on record involving the Learjet 60 type.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact as cataclysmic and said the aircraft appeared to descend like a missile. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office quarantined the area for the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB. No one on the ground was killed. The investigation will examine the role of icing, turbulence, aircraft systems, crew actions, and maintenance history. Chapman stated the board will not speculate on cause until the evidence is complete. Residents near the site remain displaced while debris recovery continues.

The sequence from the first icing report to impact lasted roughly four minutes. Controllers had cleared the climb, yet the aircraft immediately began a steep descent reported at rates exceeding 10,000 feet per minute and later higher. The final radio call included the words “we’re out of time.” Investigators will review air traffic control recordings, radar data, any recoverable flight data or cockpit voice recorders, and wreckage distribution to reconstruct the final minutes. The event has drawn attention to the challenges of business-jet operations in convective or icing conditions even at high altitude.