USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
MapLearjet 60 Crash Kills Everyone On Board Near West Palm Beach, Florida
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Nine people aboard a Learjet 60 died in Florida crash. The jet was traveling from Austin to the Bahamas when it crashed.
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18 outlets told this the same way.
Learjet crash in Florida
A Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, while heading to the Bahamas, and the crash killed everyone on board, including two flight crew and seven passengers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m. and called it a "horrific tragedy." The FAA said the aircraft departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to the Bahamas, and the NTSB said weather conditions would be a major focus of the investigation.
“The Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m.”
The BBC reported the plane crashed on Military Trail, a six-lane road, at around 12:50 local time, and the NTSB said the biggest obstacle was recovering major wreckage from a crater on the roadway. The crash left a crater near the entrance to a mobile home park, and the NTSB said the crater had become partially filled with water because of severe storms.
Final transmissions and injuries
The NTSB said the crew reported icing and moderate turbulence at about 35,000 feet and requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet, but the aircraft began descending rapidly and the crew declared an emergency. CNN reported that copilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras cried out to air traffic controllers, "We’re gonna crash into the ground!" The BBC said air traffic control audio included the crew saying, "we are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute," before saying, "we are going to crash into the ground."
The crash prompted the evacuation of hundreds of people from 77 mobile homes, and the NTSB said one man in a vehicle "immediately adjacent" to the crash site sustained a leg injury. The NTSB also said it had evidence the aircraft may have broken apart before impact and that it was still trying to determine whether a cockpit voice recorder was onboard and could be recovered.
Victims named, investigation ahead
Family members identified victims including Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp and their children Emma and Charlie, and the BBC said the joint statement also named nanny Anita Maria Cetina and friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr. Fox News reported that Adam Robinson wrote on the day of the crash that RB2B had reached $10 million in annual recurring revenue, and the article said the family was among nine people killed Sunday. The 6abc Philadelphia report said one of the pilots was identified by her stepfather as 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, and it said she earned her pilot's license in 2023 while a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School.
“‘RB2B is $10m ARR with 1 FTE,’ Robinson wrote.”
The NTSB said it was documenting known parts found at the scene and interviewing witnesses, and officials urged residents not to move debris and to call 911. The FAA said the NTSB would lead the investigation while the FAA would assist, and the BBC said investigators were struggling to access the wreckage due to the huge crater created by the jet on the road in Palm Beach.