A Learjet 60 aircraft crashed into a residential neighbourhood in southern Florida on Sunday, killing all nine people on board, officials have confirmed.
The aircraft went down near Cresthaven in Palm Beach County, less than seven miles from US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home, triggering a massive fire and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the incident as a horrific tragedy, confirming that nobody on the aircraft survived.
According to Duffy, the Learjet 60 departed Austin, Texas, and was heading to the Bahamas when it crashed.
Videos circulating on social media, which have not been independently verified, appeared to show the aircraft descending steeply before hitting the ground and erupting into a fireball near a busy roadside.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who spoke to reporters near the crash site, described the incident as a catastrophic accident.
“It looked like a missile going down,” DeSantis said, adding that there were no reports of injuries among people on the ground.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said the aircraft crashed near the entrance to a mobile home park, forcing authorities to evacuate approximately 600 residents and relocate them to shelters.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago earlier on Sunday but had departed from the nearby airport aboard Air Force One about an hour before the crash. He boarded the presidential aircraft at 11:55 a.m. local time.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would investigate the incident alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Preliminary audio recordings from the air traffic monitoring website LiveATC.net captured what appeared to be communications from the aircraft’s cockpit shortly before the crash.
In the recording, a crew member reported moderate turbulence and said the aircraft was experiencing icing conditions, adding that the plane was picking up precipitation and needed to climb.
The crew member subsequently declared an emergency as the aircraft reportedly descended rapidly.
“We’re going to crash into the ground,” the person said shortly before communication was lost.
Storms had been reported in the area around the time of the incident, although investigators are yet to establish the precise cause of the crash.
The investigation is expected to examine the aircraft’s flight data, weather conditions and other factors that may have contributed to the disaster.
