Palm Beach Learjet crash kills all nine aboard

Key Takeaways

The death toll	Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said all nine people aboard died after a Learjet 60 crashed near Cresthaven, in Palm Beach County, around 12:50 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. The FAA said nine were on board. Its statement does not itself say they died.
The radio calls	A New York Post video carries audio of ice, turbulence, a mayday, and an overspeed descent. CNN and the AP transcribed those lines from LiveATC.net. The video's automatic captions drop the minus sign on the temperature and mishear "overspeed."
The crash site	The FAA placed the crash in a residential area near Cresthaven. The sheriff's office closed Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North. Greenacres Fire Rescue said the site was outside that city's boundary.
Still unknown	The NTSB is leading the investigation. Officials had not named those aboard, named the operator, or given a cause. The governor said there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries on the ground.

A Learjet 60 crashed near Cresthaven, in Palm Beach County, around 12:50 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said all nine people aboard were killed. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Palm Beach Learjet crash flight left Austin, Texas, for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.

The Palm Beach Learjet crash on the radio

The New York Post video, posted on Sunday, Nov. 1, carries captioned audio through about 2:16. At 0:17 the automatic captions have a voice saying "something just fell down," then the radio. CNN and the Associated Press transcribed that exchange from LiveATC.net.

At about 0:19 the captions scramble the first call. CNN and the AP both quote the pilot to Miami Center: "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence." CNN's account also gives an outside air temperature of -47 degrees Celsius and bumps of up to 700 feet. The captions lose the minus sign, reading "47° C," and nearby numbers come out as "700 ft" and "600 ft."

At about 0:57 the captions show precipitation and a request to climb to "370." The AP said the jet was eastbound at 35,000 feet and that the crew asked to climb 2,000 feet, near 37,000 feet. The AP did not print "370."

At 1:14 the AP quotes, "We're descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday - we're descending 10,000 feet per minute." CNN matched that line. At about 1:25 both quote, "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute." The captions turn this into "an overseas condition" and "sending 20 ft per minute."

At 1:36 the captions say, "We're going to crash into the ground," which CNN and the AP also quote. NBC News heard "We're gonna crash into the ground 722 Bravo Delta" and said the speaker was a woman. CNN and the AP said "the pilot" and gave no gender. The FAA has not named the crew. A caption near 1:43, on a 22,000-foot descent and a 60-degree bank, is not in those transcripts. The AP did report a sharp right bank.

Tracking data is separate from the radio. The AP, citing recordings and flight tracking, said the rate hit 30,000 feet per minute. AVweb, citing ADS-B, said the peak topped 32,000 feet per minute. CNN, citing ADS-B Exchange, said the jet dropped 27,000 feet in one minute. The NTSB had not published a track.

Where the Learjet came down

The FAA accident statement says the Learjet 60 crashed in a residential area near Cresthaven around 12:50 p.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 1, with nine people aboard. It had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport for North Eleuthera Airport. The NTSB will lead and issue the updates, the FAA said. The statement names no tail number and does not say they died.

Duffy posted the deaths on X on Sunday, Nov. 1. The AP said he timed the Palm Beach County crash at 12:50 p.m., called it a "horrific tragedy," and said the FAA would help the NTSB. NBC News quoted a further line: "Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost." It also said the names were unreleased.

Jim Reynolds, an Austin-Bergstrom spokesperson, told the AP the jet was private. The Guardian's copy of that story has him giving tail number N722BD and saying, "This is definitely a tragedy." He could not say who was aboard. The FAA registry lists N722BD as a Learjet Inc. model 60, serial 271, owned by LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware, certificate dated Jan. 4, 2023, build year blank. The registry names an owner, not the operator. CNN said the jet is listed for charter. The FAA statement does not.

The video title says West Palm Beach. The FAA says near Cresthaven. The sheriff's office told WPBF the scene was Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, closed both ways. Greenacres Fire Rescue told WPBF the site was outside that city. The AP, citing the sheriff, said Greenacres, about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. CNN said about four miles south of that city's airport.

DeSantis told reporters, "It was a cataclysmic plane crash," and, "It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road," the AP reported. He said there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths on the ground. CNN said Commissioner Joel Flores put shelter needs at about 600 because the scene blocked a mobile-home entrance. WPBF quoted him on an evacuation of about 600 people at Cresthaven mobile home park. The AP said damage to homes was unclear. A separate Fox News dashcam, credited to Aki Kuusisto via Storyful, is not this Post video.

What the investigation has not settled

The National Weather Service in Miami had a flood watch for Palm Beach County through the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 2. The 12:49 p.m. EST update on Sunday, Nov. 1, names Greenacres and West Palm Beach. It covers rain and flooding, not ice at cruise altitude. The radio calls are the crew's report, not a cause.

CNN said NTSB investigators were due on Sunday, Nov. 1, and Monday, Nov. 2, with a briefing planned for Monday, Nov. 2. The NTSB news list had no written release. Cause, names, and injuries on the ground were still absent from the FAA note and from the Duffy lines outlets quoted.