Florida Learjet crash: all nine on board killed, investigation under way

A private Learjet 60 crashed on Sunday 1 November 2026 in Palm Beach County, Florida. According to US authorities, none of the nine people on board survived.

What is known about the crash

The accident happened at about 12.50pm Eastern time (5.50pm UK time), near the Cresthaven area of West Palm Beach. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced it and called it a horrific tragedy.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the aircraft took off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading for the Bahamas. Polsat News, citing CNN, reported that there were no reports of casualties on the ground. The crash site is about 6.5km south of West Palm Beach airport. Polsat News reported that US President Donald Trump left from there on Air Force One a little over an hour before the crash.

The final moments of the flight

According to TVN24, the crew sent a "mayday" call. Flightradar24 said flight data indicated that at one point the aircraft's rate of descent exceeded 32,000 feet (about 10,000 metres) per minute. After hitting the ground the aircraft burned. Witnesses described a huge bang.

BBC Verify reconstructed the last minutes of the flight using air traffic control audio and flight tracking data. We were unable to access the full BBC material, so we do not report the details of that reconstruction here.

Investigation

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating. The cause of the crash is not yet known. The identities of the victims have not been officially released, and any conclusions about what happened will only be reliable once investigators report their findings.