9 Dead After Bahamas-Bound Learjet Crashes in Palm Beach County, Florida

Nine people died after a Bahamas-bound Learjet crashed and then erupted in a fireball in Palm Beach County, Florida, Sunday afternoon, officials said. 

The crash happened near Cresthaven, about nine miles (14 km) from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort in the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach County.

The crash is the second deadliest in the United States this year, according to National Transportation Safety Board records, following June’s skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, which killed 12.

Officials have not identified the nine people who were aboard the plane or said how many were passengers and crew.

There are no reports of anyone on the ground being killed, but it did create a significant debris field, the governor said. 

About 600 people are in need of shelter on the ground because the crash scene is blocking the entrance to a mobile home park and residents can’t stay there, a county official said.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who confirmed the deaths, called the crash a “horrific tragedy.”

Sunday’s incident is the worst crash involving a Learjet 60, according to data from the Flight Safety Foundation. In 2008, four were killed when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff from Columbia, South Carolina.

Minutes before the crash, the pilot of the plane reported ice accumulating on the aircraft, an outside air temperature of -47 degrees Celsius, and moderate turbulence, bouncing the plane by up to 700 feet, according to a recording of air traffic control radio calls captured by LiveATC.net.

But moments later, after reporting precipitation started to fall and requesting to climb, they declared an emergency.

“We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday - we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot said. “We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute … We’re going to crash into the ground.”

The plane was a Learjet 60 flying to the Bahamas from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Source: CNN