Nine people killed in Learjet crash in south Florida, officials say

REUTERS -- A Learjet crashed on Sunday afternoon in a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, ‌killing all nine people on board, US transportation officials said.

The private jet had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

Videos on social ​media showed the jet slamming into the ground next to a road and exploding.

“When you see that video, it’s a jarring thing. It was like ​a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said it had ​launched an investigation into the crash, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called a “horrific tragedy”.

FAA records list the Bombardier-made Learjet 60’s owner as a Delaware corporation. Canada-based Bombardier said it would fully support the investigation and cooperate as needed.

The crash left a “massive crater” ​by the road near the entrance to a mobile home park, Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores ​said at the news conference. About 600 people were being evacuated from the area and relocated to two shelters in the ‌county, ⁠Flores said.

Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were occurring in the area at the time, forecaster AccuWeather said in a statement.

An audio recording from a Miami air traffic control centre posted on LiveATC, a site that broadcasts air traffic control communications, captured the plane’s final moments before the crash in unusual detail.

At first, someone in the plane’s ​cockpit reported to an ​air traffic controller that ⁠they were “managing the ice” but faced “moderate” turbulence and were seeking “better rides”.

Less than a minute later, the person said “Mayday, mayday”, reporting that the plane was suddenly descending at a ​rate of 10,000 feet per minute.

Seconds later, the person said they were declaring ​an emergency, ⁠with the rate of descent accelerating to 20,000 feet per minute.

Less than 20 seconds later, the person said: “We’re going to crash into the ground” before saying that the descent rate had reached 22,000 feet per minute as the ⁠plane started ​banking.