All nine people aboard a Bahamas-bound private jet were killed on Sunday afternoon, 1 November 2026, when the aircraft crashed in a residential area of Palm Beach County, Florida, and erupted in flames, US officials said.
The Learjet 60 had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It came down at about 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, in the Greenacres area, leaving a large debris field and a crater in the road.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that all nine people aboard died, calling the crash a ‘horrific tragedy’.
The nine people have not been identified, and officials have not said how many were passengers and how many were crew. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said there were no reports of anyone on the ground being killed, although about 600 people needed shelter because of damage on the ground.
Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice accumulating on the aircraft and moderate turbulence, and later declared an emergency as the jet descended rapidly, according to air traffic control recordings reported by CNN. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, with the NTSB leading the investigation. Investigators were due at the site on Sunday and Monday, with a news conference planned for Monday.
Note: the featured image on this post is a free stock photo used for illustration only. It is not a photograph of the actual crash.
Source: CNN and the Associated Press — https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/01/us/south-florida-plane-crash
