Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Calls Palm Beach Jet Crash a 'Horrific Tragedy'

A Learjet 60 business jet lost all nine people on board when it plunged into a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The aircraft, which had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it struck the ground near a busy roadway and exploded. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the incident as a "horrific tragedy" in a post on X, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration was sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation. The FAA said the jet crashed at about 12:50 p.m. Eastern time and called its information preliminary.

The NTSB said Sunday it was launching a go-team, and investigators were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday morning. The agency plans to hold a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday. No cause for the crash has been determined yet. Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, identified the aircraft as a private jet but said he could not say who was on the flight, calling the event a definite tragedy. Officials have not released the names of the victims or specified how many were passengers versus crew.

The impact site was located near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North in Greenacres, a city of about 45,000 residents situated roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The crash site is approximately four miles south of the local airport, which was renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport earlier in the year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and told reporters the crash appeared like a missile striking the ground, leaving a large crater on the side of the road. He stated that at the time of his news conference, there were no reports of people on the ground being killed or injured, though he praised the quick response of local first responders and noted the debris field stretched a considerable distance.

Video recorded by people in nearby cars captured the jet descending rapidly, striking near the roadway, and erupting in flames. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater, which was only feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke obscured the site, and footage from WPBF showed the road surface buckled at the point of impact. Anthony Blackmon, a resident living about 500 feet from the crash, reported that debris hit his house and that the road and surrounding areas were on fire. He expressed shock that an event usually seen on the news had happened so close to his home.

Other witnesses described the physical force of the impact. Roger Forcelle said the aircraft passed over his home, shaking the structure, and crashed probably less than half a mile from where he lives. He noted that neighbors rushed outside because the shaking was palpable. Andrew Mannino told CNN that he heard and felt the boom, and that the power went out immediately and was still out. He smelled smoke and observed a large black cloud rising into the sky. Another witness described the aftermath as looking like a meteor had hit the ground. A woman working nearby said the electricity had been out for about two hours following the crash.

About 600 people in a nearby mobile home community had to leave their homes on Sunday night, county officials said. The crash scene blocks the entrance to the park, and officials are treating the area as a crime scene while federal investigators conduct their work. No official has alleged a crime occurred. Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores, who was the first county official at the scene, said residents were being sent to two county shelters. He noted that the Red Cross was on standby and that Palm Tran buses were ready to transport residents once law enforcement permitted the move.

Military Trail was closed between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive, open only to emergency vehicles. The county directed drivers to use 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive for east-west travel and Haverhill Road and Kirk Road for north-south travel. A county commissioner warned that parts of the road could remain closed for an extended period due to the crater and the ongoing federal investigation. Air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data provide a detailed account of the jet's final moments. The aircraft was flying east at about 35,000 feet when pilots reported turbulence, icing, and precipitation. They requested to climb 2,000 feet and reported light, clear ice that was manageable along with moderate turbulence.

The pilot reported an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius and turbulence that was bouncing the jet by as much as 700 feet. After requesting the climb, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The pilot radioed, "We're descending 8,000, mayday, mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute," before reporting an overspeed condition while descending at 20,000 feet per minute. The pilot stated, "We're going to crash into the ground," and CBS News reported the pilot also said, "We're out of time." The descent rate increased from 10,000 to 20,000, and then as high as 30,000 feet per minute, pushing the jet beyond its design limits.

The plane banked sharply to the right before hitting the ground at a steep angle. The FAA data showed the jet fell from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in one minute just before the crash. Flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange recorded a drop of 27,000 feet in about a minute before the data signal was lost. Scattered storms were present in the area, and the jet passed through a stronger storm cell minutes before the descent began. The flight was within an area where the FAA had issued a convective SIGMET, a warning for thunderstorms that threaten aircraft. Whether the weather played a role in the crash has not been determined.

Heavy rain fell across the region on Sunday, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon. In January 2024, the NTSB issued a safety alert regarding in-flight icing, warning that ice can make managing flightpath and airspeed more difficult and prevent an airplane from maintaining level flight. Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Department, stated that dashcam video would be important to investigators. She noted that the steep dive was not a controlled descent, indicating the pilots had lost control of the plane. She suggested the dive could have torn parts off the aircraft and that a flight recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion.

It is not currently known whether the jet carried a cockpit voice recorder. FAA rules require multi-engine jets to carry one only when they are flown for hire. Records show this jet was offered for charter flights. Flight tracking and FAA registry data identify the aircraft by its registration, N722BD. The FAA lists it as a Learjet 60 owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware, and CNN reported the jet is listed online as available for charter. Officials have not yet identified who operated Sunday's flight.

This crash is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, according to Flight Safety Foundation data cited by CNN. In 2008, four people were killed when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. NTSB records indicate this is the second deadliest crash in the United States this year, following a skydiving plane crash in Butler, Missouri, in June that killed 12 people. Learjet, the brand made famous by wealthy travelers in the 1960s, was most recently built by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier. The company stopped making new Learjets in 2021 but still provides support for the planes currently in service.