A Learjet 60 carrying nine people crashed and exploded in a residential area just miles from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, killing everyone on board.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, 43, confirmed the fatalities in a post on X last Friday, stating that all nine people aboard the 22-year-old aircraft died in the crash near Cresthaven Boulevard in Greenacres, Palm Beach County. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the jet plummeted from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in under a minute, a dramatic descent that left no chance for recovery.
The aircraft had been en route from Austin, Texas to the Bahamas when it went down. Video captured from a passing vehicle and shared across social media platforms showed the plane diving steeply toward the ground before impact, which triggered a massive fireball and prompted authorities to declare a mass casualty incident.
Palm Beach County Fire & Rescue addressed the emergency through its X account, posting: “Aircraft Incident. Military Trail between Cresthaven and 10th Avenue N closed to all traffic. Avoid the area. This will be an extended incident.” The road closure remained in effect as emergency crews worked through the aftermath of the explosion.
The crash site sits approximately six miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, a proximity that drew immediate attention to the incident given the former president’s continued presence at the Florida property. Despite the violent impact and resulting inferno, authorities reported no injuries to anyone on the ground, a narrow avoidance of additional casualties in the densely populated Palm Beach County area.
The Learjet 60, a mid-size business jet manufactured by Bombardier, first entered service in 1993. The 22-year-old aircraft involved in this crash had been operating as a private charter when it departed Austin for what should have been a routine international flight to the Bahamas.
The National Transportation Safety Board typically investigates such crashes, though no timeline for its preliminary report has been announced. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, if recovered intact from the wreckage, will be critical to determining what caused the sudden altitude loss that preceded the crash.
Witnesses near the crash site described hearing a roar resembling a missile before the impact, according to local reports. The plane struck near the side of a road in the residential neighborhood, sending flames and debris across the area and drawing scores of emergency responders to the scene.
The crash marks one of the deadliest private aviation incidents in Florida this year. The identities of the nine victims have not been publicly released as authorities work to notify next of kin.