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A business jet crashed into a residential road in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people on board, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed. The Learjet 60 went down near the neighbourhood of Cresthaven on Military Trail — a six-lane road lined with businesses and restaurants — at approximately 12:50 p.m. Eastern time, about nine miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft had departed Austin, Texas, and was bound for the Bahamas. US media reports and flight-tracking analysis indicated the jet was losing altitude at hundreds of feet per second before impact. Unverified dash-camera footage circulating on social media appeared to show the aircraft entering an almost vertical nosedive before exploding into a large fireball on the street below.
“It’s like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters at a news conference held in heavy rain shortly after the crash. Images from the scene showed a crater-sized hole in the road surface, scattered concrete, aircraft debris and patches of fire.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue declared a mass casualty incident. DeSantis said that as of the news conference there were no confirmed reports of fatalities or injuries among people on the ground, though local and state officials said approximately 600 residents of a nearby trailer-park community were being evacuated as a precaution. The crash also damaged water infrastructure in the area; officials said Military Trail would remain closed for at least 30 days.
The identities of the nine people aboard the jet had not been publicly confirmed at the time of reporting. Thunderstorms had been reported in the area around the time of the crash, and heavy rain was still falling when officials addressed the media.
Duffy described the event as a “horrific tragedy” and said the FAA was dispatching a team to assist a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. “Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost,” he said. Trump had been at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday morning and departed the area on Air Force One from a nearby airport roughly an hour before the crash.