At least nine people were killed after a small private jet plummeted into a Florida street just miles from US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday.
The aircraft crashed at about 12:50 PM near Military Trail in Palm Beach County's Greenacres area, around an hour after Trump left Mar-a-Lago that morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said nine people were aboard the Learjet 60 plane, which was heading from Texas to the Bahamas.
All nine people aboard died, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed in a statement on X.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Monday that investigators had found preliminary evidence suggesting the aircraft may have begun breaking apart before hitting the ground. Officials stressed that the cause of the crash remains unknown and that the investigation is still in its early stages.
Dashcam footage showed the airplane plunging almost vertically down toward a busy street before exploding into an enormous fireball.
🚨 Dashcam footage captures the moment of the jet crash in #Florida #PlaneCrash https://t.co/hbN1JNWXto
Videos of the aftermath showed a large crater in the pavement, a ruptured waterline, and burning wreckage scattered across a nearby trailer park.
UPDATE: Authorities now say there are MULTIPLE fatalities after a private jet slammed into a mobile home park in Greenacres, Florida. > Flight-tracking data shows it was a Learjet 60 business jet > It left a fiery crater in the road and destroyed at least one home > Palm Beach County Fire Rescue confirms an "aircraft incident" and says it will be an extended scene Still unclear how many were aboard or on the ground. Prayers for that neighborhood. 🎥 Eduin Cruz/FB, per NY Post
Around 20 NTSB investigators have been deployed to the crash site, where debris is scattered across an area reportedly measuring roughly half a mile by four-tenths of a mile. Officials said recovering the main wreckage from a water-filled crater in the roadway would not be easy.
Investigators are also trying to determine whether a cockpit voice recorder was aboard the aircraft, as past maintenance records suggest. However, they noted that it would be difficult to find salvageable clues. “That’s going to be a real challenge, and I think you’ve seen the video,” NTSB Member Tom Chapman said in a press briefing on Monday.
About 600 residents are expected to be evacuated, according to Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores. One person on the ground also suffered a leg injury, investigators said.
NTSB officials said the crew reported icing conditions and moderate turbulence while flying at 35,000 feet. The pilots requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet, but less than 30 seconds after receiving clearance, they reported descending and issued a mayday call.
In the final radio exchanges recorded by LiveATC.net, the crew reported turbulence, precipitation, and icing – a buildup of ice on the aircraft’s wings and other surfaces that can make it harder to control.
“We are in an over speed condition descending,” the crew said in one of its final transmissions, according to investigators. The aircraft crashed approximately three minutes later. In the final harrowing exchange with air traffic control, a female crew member can be heard saying: “Holy f**k, we’re out of time.”
The crash site was around eight miles from Mar-a-Lago, with Flightradar24 data showing the jet’s final dive taking it even closer before veering away.
Trump had departed the resort for Iowa around an hour before the crash, according to the White House press pool.
The crash came about two weeks after short-range Avenger surface-to-air missile systems were photographed around Mar-a-Lago and the nearby airport. NORAD and US Northern Command confirmed on October 23 that ground-based air defenses had been deployed at the request of the US Secret Service.
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