Nine killed as small jet crashes on Florida street

On Sunday, a small jet crash in a Florida neighborhood claimed the lives of all nine individuals aboard, according to the US transport secretary. The catastrophic event occurred near Cresthaven, approximately nine miles from Mar-a-Lago, the resort of President Donald Trump in Palm Beach County, around 12:50 EST (17:50 GMT). Eyewitnesses captured images of a substantial crater at the center of a multi-lane road, with fire and debris from the Learjet 60 aircraft strewn across the scene.

Remarkably, no one on the ground sustained injuries during the incident. The aircraft had taken off from Austin, Texas, and was en route to the Bahamas, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a statement. Analysis of the flight suggests that the jet was plummeting at a rate of hundreds of feet per second before the crash.

Moments before the impact, an air traffic control recording revealed a pilot reporting "moderate turbulence" and the crew managing "ice" accumulation. The pilot subsequently communicated "precipitation" and expressed the need to "climb." Shortly after, the same voice declared the plane was "descending at a rate of 10,000 feet per minute."

The crew member then issued a mayday call, urgently declaring an "overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute" and ominously predicted, "we are going to crash into the ground." Approximately 35 seconds following the initial distress signal, the last audible remark from the cockpit was "we're out of time." Unsubstantiated footage shared on social media purportedly captures the moment of the crash, revealing vehicles traversing a suburban residential street when an aircraft suddenly nosedived into the ground almost vertically, resulting in a devastating fireball.