A private Learjet 60 nosedived into a roadway near a mobile home community in Greenacres, Florida, around 1:25 p.m. Sunday, killing all nine people on board. The plane, headed to the Bahamas after departing Austin, Texas, exploded into a fireball on impact.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the death toll. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said no injuries or deaths on the ground have been reported so far, calling that outcome “miraculous.”
“Obviously, this was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down. It left a big crater on the side of the road,” DeSantis told reporters.
Resident Anthony Blackmon said he was about 500 feet from the aircraft when it went down.
“Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire. I’ve always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today,” Blackmon told NBC6.
Another nearby resident, Roger Forcelle, said he felt the jet pass directly overhead moments before it hit the ground.
“It shook the whole house. It went right over us and crashed probably less than half a mile from where I live. Everybody came out of their houses because you could feel it shaking,” Forcelle said.
Forcelle said a massive cloud of smoke rose from the crash site, and he was unable to return home after leaving to run errands. Another resident said the scene “looked like a meteor hit the ground.”
Dashcam footage captured the jet dropping rapidly and exploding into a plume of fire and smoke. Air traffic control audio captured a pilot’s final words moments before impact: “holy f–k, we’re out of time.”
Debris scattered over a significant distance, prompting the evacuation of roughly 600 people, including residents of a neighboring mobile home park.
“Right now our priority is evacuating the adjacent community right behind. We have about 600 people that we have to make sure have shelter tonight, food,” said Joel Flores, Palm Beach County Commissioner for District 3.
The jet is believed to be worth $2 million. The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a “go-team” to the scene, with investigators arriving Sunday night and Monday morning to determine the cause of the crash.
