Learjet 60 Crashes on West Palm Beach Roadway, Killing Nine

Overview

• A Bombardier Learjet 60 that left Austin for the Bahamas plunged into a residential stretch of Military Trail in West Palm Beach on Sunday, Nov. 1, killing all nine people aboard and blowing a crater in the roadway.
• Recordings obtained from LiveATC and telemetry from FlightRadar24 show the crew reported icing, moderate turbulence, declared Mayday and described extreme descent rates minutes before impact, with some sources reporting vertical speeds far beyond the aircraft’s design limits.
• The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the probe with FAA support; investigators are on site collecting wreckage and will analyze flight data and voice recorders, maintenance logs and weather data, and authorities have not released victim identities.
• Local emergency teams evacuated about 600 residents from nearby mobile homes, shut the six-lane Military Trail and reported major damage to pavement and utilities that officials said could keep the road closed for weeks.
• The jet was a used-model Learjet 60, a mid-size executive aircraft no longer in production, and while experts note icing and turbulence as possible factors, the official cause remains undetermined pending the NTSB’s forensic review.