The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, compared the private plane accident that crashed this Sunday in Palm Beach County, resulting in the death of its nine occupants, to a missile falling.
During a statement before the, DeSantis described the incident as "cataclysmic" and highlighted the extent of the damage caused by the aircraft, whose debris was scattered over a large area.
"It was a catastrophic air accident. It looked like a missile falling. It left a large crater beside the road," said the governor, who also praised the swift actions of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the firefighting and rescue teams.
DeSantis explained that, as of his appearance, there had been no reports of people dead or injured on the ground from the impact or debris.
However, he warned that the fragments of the aircraft had reached a significant distance and that the area would require a thorough investigation.
The aircraft was a Learjet 60 that had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, headed for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the aircraft crashed at approximately 12:50 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, in Greenacres, a locality in Palm Beach County, near the intersection of Military Trail and 10th Avenue North.
The United States Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, confirmed the deaths of the nine people on board and described the incident as a "terrible tragedy."
Until that moment, the authorities had not disclosed the identities or nationalities of the victims.
The videos recorded from vehicles near the accident site show the plane crashing towards the ground before triggering a violent explosion.
The impact left a crater in the road, while flames and a thick column of black smoke rose just meters away from several houses.
About 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community were affected by the access restrictions and the damages caused in the area.
Joel Flores, commissioner of Palm Beach County for District 3, explained that the priority was to ensure shelter, food, and safety for those who had to temporarily leave their homes.
The authorities prepared two shelters to receive residents and coordinated the availability of Palm Tran buses to transport them when law enforcement authorized the evacuation. The Red Cross was also on standby to assist those affected.
Flores explained that the impact occurred by the entrance of the residential community, which complicated access for its residents.
He also warned that the large crater opened on Military Trail would require significant repairs and estimated that the affected section might remain closed for an extended period.
In a later update, county authorities reported that Military Trail would remain closed between 10th Avenue North and Purdy Lane/Alameda Drive until further notice, with limited access for emergency vehicles. They recommended using Haverhill Road and Kirk Road as alternative routes for north-south travel.
The initial reports about the final minutes of the flight revealed that the pilots had reported ice accumulation, turbulence, and precipitation before the plane began to lose altitude rapidly.
According to a report by Associated Press based on communications with air traffic control, the aircraft was flying at an altitude of about 35,000 feet when its pilots requested to climb approximately an additional 2,000 feet after encountering adverse weather conditions.
In one of the communications, a pilot indicated that they had "light, manageable clear ice, and moderate turbulence." Shortly thereafter, the situation worsened and the crew declared an emergency.
«Mayday, mayday,» transmitted one of the pilots as he communicated an increasingly rapid descent. In one of his final communications, he warned: «We are going to crash into the ground».
Flight tracking data, cited by CNN, indicates that the Learjet lost approximately 27,000 feet of altitude, about 8,230 meters, in just one minute before the tracking signal was interrupted.
The weather conditions were deteriorating in southern Florida throughout the day. Storms were reported in the area, and the National Weather Service was monitoring the situation for potential flooding due to heavy rainfall. However, authorities had not yet determined whether the bad weather was the cause of the accident.
The Nation Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced the dispatch of a team of investigators to the site of the accident, with specialists arriving between Sunday and the morning of Monday, November 2nd.
The agency also scheduled a press conference in West Palm Beach for Monday, initially not specifying the time or exact location of the appearance.
The NTSB will lead the investigation with support from the FAA to determine what caused the crash of the Learjet 60.
Among the elements that will need to be examined are the weather conditions, the crew communications, and the flight data recorded prior to the impact.
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