Learjet 60 carrying nine crashes near West Palm Beach, Transport Secretary confirms deaths

What happened

A Learjet 60 carrying nine people came down in a residential area of Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, 1 November 2026. The FAA said the flight had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for the Bahamas. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the deaths of all nine people on board. The crash site lies in Greenacres, near the junction of South Military Trail and 10th Avenue North, about 6.4 to 6.5 kilometers south of West Palm Beach airport depending on the source. The crash happened at about 12:50 local time, which Rzeczpospolita put at 18:50 in Poland.

Final descent and flight data

According to FlightRadar24 data cited by Rzeczpospolita, the jet was flying steadily at 12,500 meters before it entered a steep, almost vertical dive. Its last ADS-B reading was taken at about 2,700 meters, when the aircraft was falling at nearly 600 km/h. Tracking data from ADS-B Exchange, cited by Europa Press, showed a drop of about 8,230 meters within one minute before the signal was lost. Telegraaf gave the same drop as 27,000 feet, and it named North Eleuthera as the destination. The Dutch paper also described the twin-engine jet as 22 years old. RMF24 reported that brief thunderstorms were in the area and that the aircraft had passed through a stronger storm cell a few minutes before it began to descend, and it said the weather could have contributed.

Scene and damage

Video recorded by car cameras captured the moment of impact, which left a crater in the asphalt beside the road. Burning wreckage and chunks of pavement were scattered across the area, and black smoke rose from the hole. Rzeczpospolita reported that the wreck completely destroyed at least one mobile home standing near the road, and that the jet clipped trees and brought down power lines just before it hit the ground. Telemundo, as reported by El Pais, said the aircraft came down near a small shopping center and a group of mobile homes. The Independent reported that people standing nearby expressed shock that the plane had landed only feet from homes. Fire and rescue services described the incident as a large one, and no source said whether anyone on the ground had been hurt.

Investigation and official response

The FAA confirmed the accident in a statement, and the agency and the National Transportation Safety Board are now examining what happened. President Donald Trump had been in West Palm Beach that Sunday, but he left aboard Air Force One about an hour before the crash. The airport there was renamed Donald Trump Airport earlier in 2026 in his honor. No source reported an established cause, and the sequence of the final descent remains under review. Reports did not describe any survivors, and the condition of the occupants beyond Duffy's confirmation of their deaths was not detailed.