A private Learjet 60 aircraft crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, November 1, killing all nine people on board.
The aircraft departed Austin, Texas, and was heading to the Bahamas when it plunged rapidly towards the ground, erupting into a massive fireball and leaving a crater near a busy roadway. The crash occurred near Cresthaven, less than seven miles (11 kilometres) from US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
According to US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, all nine occupants were killed in the incident. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the crash as catastrophic, adding that there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths among people on the ground.
Air traffic control recordings reportedly captured the pilot describing moderate turbulence, ice accumulation and precipitation before declaring an emergency as the aircraft rapidly lost altitude. The exact cause of the crash remains unknown.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago earlier on Sunday but had departed the area aboard Air Force One approximately an hour before the crash.
Following the incident, authorities evacuated about 600 residents from a nearby mobile home community and relocated them to shelters. The affected roadway was also closed to traffic.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident to determine the cause of the crash.