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 is the second deadliest in the United States this year, according to NTSB records, following June’s skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, which killed 12.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash a “horrific tragedy.”
The plane was a Learjet 60 flying to the Bahamas from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It is registered to an LLC in Delaware, according to FAA records, and is listed as available for charter online.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, the FAA said.
The crash occurred near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
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.
“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot radioed the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center.
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 jet descended 27,000 feet over the course of one minute, just before flight tracking data cut off, the website ADS-B Exchange shows.
The road is buckled where the plane slammed into it, creating a crater, video from CNN affiliate WPBF showed.
The crash site is about four miles south of the airport in West Palm Beach, which was renamed for President Donald Trump earlier this year. Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier today, but departed the airport on Air Force One a little more than one hour before this crash.
There were scattered storms in the area at the time of the crash, and the plane passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before it began descending. It is unclear if the storm contributed to the crash.
All northbound and southbound lanes of Military Trail are closed until further notice, officials said, and motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.
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