A Learjet 60 charter jet crashed into a residential area of Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard and scattering debris across a wide area near a mobile home community, according to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Associated Press. The jet went down at about 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time at Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard, about seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach, the AP reported.

The flight had departed Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration via USA Today, and was operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets, according to the NTSB. The company told USA Today it is cooperating with authorities.

One man on the ground was injured when debris struck him in the leg, officials said. About 600 residents were displaced from the area, and evacuees were sheltered at the Greenacres Community Center with help from the Red Cross, according to the AP. County officials gave no timeline for residents to return.

At a news conference on Monday, NTSB board member Tom Chapman said investigators had found evidence the aircraft began breaking apart before it struck the ground. "We do have some evidence that there was some breakup of the aircraft before impact," Chapman said, according to USA Today, adding that parts of the jet may be found some distance from the crash site. Chapman said the cause of the crash has not been determined and that investigators would not speculate.

Weather is a central focus of the investigation, Chapman said. The crew had reported clear ice and air temperatures of minus 53 degrees at altitude, calling the ice "manageable" at the time, according to investigators. A fast-growing thunderstorm stood in the jet's path, with clouds reaching roughly 48,000 feet, according to the Palm Beach Post. In the flight's final minutes, the crew asked to climb from 35,000 to 37,000 feet, and a mayday call followed about 20 seconds later, according to the Palm Beach Post. The crew reported the jet descending at 20,000 feet per minute before its final transmissions, USA Today reported. The copilot made the flight's final radio calls, according to the AP.

Maintenance records show a cockpit voice recorder had been installed on the jet at some point, but investigators do not yet know whether it was still on board, Chapman said. "We're very hopeful that we can recover it," he said, according to USA Today. The crash crater in the roadway has been filling with water from heavy rain, and investigators said recovering the major wreckage is the biggest obstacle in an on-scene process expected to take several days.

Authorities have not officially identified any of the nine people killed. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday it was still working to identify the victims, and county officials said formal identifications are expected to take time because DNA matching is needed, according to the Palm Beach Post.

In a joint statement on Monday, the passengers' families identified the seven passengers as Adam Robinson, 45, an Austin technology entrepreneur; his wife, Helen Sharp, 40; their young children, Emma and Charlie; the children's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina; and Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, according to USA Today, the AP and CNN.

The flight's copilot was identified by her family as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, of the Boca Raton area. She earned her pilot's license at 17, had logged more than 1,300 flight hours and had worked for Upper Jets for about nine months, according to the AP and her family. She was rated to fly the Learjet 60 but was not in command of the flight, the AP reported. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended her performance in a post on X on Monday, according to USA Today and Reuters. The pilot in command had not been officially identified as of Monday night.

This is a developing story. NCN will update this article as investigators confirm additional information.

  • National Correspondent Network