Learjet 60 crashes in Greenacres, Florida, killing all nine aboard

A Learjet 60 business jet flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas crashed in Greenacres in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard.

The Learjet 60 was near West Palm Beach when it went down by Military Trail, close to Mar-a-Lago. The impact was near a busy roadway in a Greenacres mobile-home park, and the jet exploded into a fireball. Social-media videos showed flames, thick black smoke and burning debris; witnesses quoted by the BBC said it came down like a missile.

Flight tracking data show the jet descending at nearly 20,000 feet per minute shortly before impact, after a sharp turn and in a steep nose-down dive.

The flight had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Cockpit audio reported by the New York Post captured the pilot describing an overspeed condition and an extraordinarily rapid descent. Hindustan Times reported an air traffic control exchange from the crew’s final moments; International Business Times Singapore summarized one transmission as ‘We’re out of time.’

No cause has been established in the reports so far. The open question is why the Learjet 60 entered that overspeed condition and rapid descent before striking the residential area.