Learjet 60 Plunges 27,000 Feet in Sixty Seconds Before Palm Beach Crash
All nine people aboard the charter jet died after it hit a residential street in Greenacres on Sunday.
By Julian Reed ·
The aircraft lost 27,000 feet in sixty seconds before it hit the ground. That steep descent, captured by flight-tracking data from ADS-B Exchange, ended in a crash into a suburban neighborhood in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, on Sunday. All nine people on board the twin-engine Learjet 60 were killed.
The jet departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas earlier in the day. Its intended destination was North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Federal and local emergency officials confirmed the flight was a charter operation. Authorities have not yet released the names of the victims.
Cockpit audio recorded by air traffic control revealed the crew’s final moments. A pilot broadcast a mayday call, stating the plane was descending 8,000 feet and then 10,000 feet per minute. The pilot later reported an overspeed condition with a descent rate of 20,000 feet per minute, concluding with the words, “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
The impact occurred near a mobile home community along South Military Trail, close to Cresthaven Boulevard. The strike buckled the asphalt and left a smoldering crater. First responders extinguished the heavy fire and smoke that rose from the site. Military Trail was closed between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. No one on the ground was injured or killed, according to officials.
Weather stations in the area recorded active thunderstorms, lightning, and wind gusts near 25 mph around the time of the crash. The jet flew through a severe weather cell just before its steep dive. Investigators have not determined whether the atmospheric conditions directly caused the accident.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the event as a “horrific tragedy” in a social media post on Sunday. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have launched a joint investigation. Federal teams will remain at the site for several days to collect wreckage, review flight recorder data, and analyze the weather conditions along the flight path.
Source: KXMZ
