Learjet 60 Crashes in Palm Beach County, Killing All Nine on Board

A 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, had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. It entered a steep descent and struck the ground near the intersection of Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in the Greenacres-Cresthaven area at approximately 12:50 p.m. local time. The impact created a crater and scattered debris across a mobile-home neighborhood. No one on the ground was reported killed or seriously injured.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the nine fatalities. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the descent as looking “like a missile going down.” Witnesses reported a fireball and a sound they compared to a meteor strike. Air-traffic-control recordings captured a pilot saying “We’re out of time” in the final moments.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration opened investigations. The aircraft was a 22-year-old Learjet 60 owned by a Delaware limited-liability company. Bombardier, the manufacturer, said it would support the inquiry. The plane had been under normal control until the rapid loss of altitude.

Videos circulating online showed the jet plunging and erupting on impact beside a roadway. First responders closed Military Trail in both directions while they secured the site. Debris reached nearby homes, though the main crater lay near the road.

The crash occurred a few miles south of Palm Beach International Airport, also known as President Donald J. Trump International Airport. Local officials noted the proximity but reported no connection to any specific flight activity at that facility.

Investigators will examine flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders if they survive the impact and fire. Preliminary reports indicate no distress call before the final transmission. The high-speed descent suggests either a control failure, spatial disorientation or an in-flight structural or systems problem. The NTSB typically releases a preliminary factual report within weeks and a full probable-cause determination after months of analysis.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores described a “massive crater” near the entrance to a mobile-home park. Emergency crews worked into the evening to extinguish remaining fires and recover remains. The site remained restricted on 2 November while federal teams documented wreckage distribution.

Business-jet operations in the region continued under normal procedures. The Learjet 60 has a long service history; earlier accidents involving the type have involved different failure modes. This investigation will focus on the specific sequence that produced the near-vertical descent.

Families of the nine occupants began receiving notifications on 1 November. Authorities have not released names pending formal identification. The flight’s purpose and passenger list remain under review as part of the NTSB process.

The crash adds to a series of high-profile general-aviation accidents in 2026. Safety investigators will compare the recorded flight path and any recovered systems data against known Learjet 60 performance characteristics. Until the recorders are analyzed, the precise trigger for the descent stays undetermined.