Gov. Ron DeSantis described the wreckage as looking “like a missile going down” after a private jet nosedived into a Florida mobile home community, killing all nine people aboard.
The Bahamas-bound Learjet 60, valued at roughly $2 million, plummeted to earth and exploded into a fireball at the entrance of the Greenacres mobile home park around 1:25 p.m. Sunday, leaving a massive crater in its wake. Miraculously, no one on the ground was killed or injured, DeSantis and local officials said during a Sunday evening press conference.
“Obviously, this was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down, it left a big crater on the side of the road,” DeSantis told reporters.
The governor continued, “There was a lot of debris that was spewed as a result of this crash. As of now, we don’t have any reports of anyone who was on the ground, apart from the people in the plane, who were killed or injured as a result of debris. But the debris was significant, and it went over a pretty significant distance.”
That debris field forced roughly 600 residents of the adjacent community to evacuate as federal investigators began combing through the scene. Shocking dashcam footage captured the jet rapidly plummeting straight downward before erupting into a massive plume of fire and smoke.
“When you see that video, you know it’s a jarring thing … a massive explosion, debris going everywhere,” DeSantis said. “And to have those people on board is really a tragic way to see people pass away. We should offer our thoughts and prayers to their family.”
Harrowing air traffic control audio captured the final moments inside the doomed aircraft, including a pilot heard uttering the last words “holy f–k, we’re out of time.” None of the nine victims had been publicly identified as of Sunday night.
Joel Flores, Palm Beach County Commissioner for District 3, said his immediate priority was ensuring displaced residents had shelter and food before darkness fell. “Right now our priority is evacuating the adjacent community right behind. We have about 600 people that we have to make sure have shelter tonight, food,” Flores said.
Flores added he was concerned that the main entrance to the mobile community was left completely decimated, with county officials now scrambling to find alternative traffic routes. Nearby businesses would be “shut down for the near future,” he said.
Rep. Debra Tendrich said fire rescue responded “immediately” to the crash site and “did an incredible job.”
AccuWeather meteorologists noted heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in the crash area, with rainfall rates estimated at roughly 0.25 inches per hour. “The combination of thunderstorms, heavy rainfall and reduced visibility created challenging weather conditions in the area,” Alan Reppert, an AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said in a statement.
“What’s particularly important is that visibility could deteriorate significantly as heavier bands of rain moved through, meaning conditions were not necessarily consistent from one moment to the next,” Reppert added.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it has initiated a “go-team” to arrive on the scene Sunday night and Monday morning. The NTSB is expected to hold a press conference on the crash Monday morning.