Pilot screams mayday before a private jet nosedives into a Florida road near Mar-a-Lago, killing all nine on board
Dashcam footage of the Learjet 60's impact near West Palm Beach, as Transport Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash "a horrific tragedy.A radar image posted on X shows the thunderstorm over Palm Beach County that the Learjet 60 flew into before nosediving, with the aircraft having departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas bound for the Bahamas.Footage posted on X shows what a witness described as looking nothing like a plane as the jet fell, the aircraft having plunged 34,000 feet in under a minute at a 60-degree bank angle.The crash left a crater in Military Trail, igniting a utility pole and scattering burning debris feet from passing cars and nearby homes in Greenacres, Palm Beach County.
The Learjet 60 plunged 32,000 feet in under a minute from cruising altitude near West Palm Beach, ploughing a crater into Military Trail, a six-lane road lined with businesses, just metres from residential homes. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who attended a news conference at the scene, described it as looking 'like a missile going down', leaving a crater and debris scattered across the road.
The pilot had reported turbulence, icing and precipitation seconds before the mayday call, when the jet banked to 60 degrees and descended at 22,000ft per minute.
The Learjet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, before the rapid nosedive abruptly ended its flight.
No ground casualties have been confirmed; the NTSB and FAA have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
