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‘Looked like missile going down’: Florida governor describes Learjet crash as videos show jet exploding on impact
The crash left a “massive crater” beside the road near the entrance to a mobile home park, Palm Beach County commissioner Joel Flores said.
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Nine people were killed on Sunday when a Learjet 60 business jet crashed into a neighbourhood in southern Florida, just miles away from US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, officials said. Florida governor Ron DeSantis described the incident as a “missile going down”.
US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the plane had departed from Austin, Texas, and was bound for the Bahamas. It crashed near Cresthaven, a neighbourhood in Palm Beach County less than seven miles (11 kilometres) from Mar-a-Lago.
ALSO READ | 'Mayday, Mayday!': Final cockpit audio emerges after Learjet crash kills 9 in Florida
‘Like a missile going down’
Deep Dive
Videos shared on social media showed the jet hitting the ground beside a road and exploding.
“It was a big-time tragedy that happened,” DeSantis said at a press conference near the crash site in Lake Worth Beach.
“When you see that video, it’s a jarring thing. It was like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere,” he added.
The crash left a “massive crater” beside 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 and taken to two shelters in the county, he said.
How the crash happened
An audio recording from a Miami air traffic control centre, posted on LiveATC, a website that broadcasts air traffic control communications, captured the plane’s final moments in unusual detail.
A person in the cockpit initially told an air traffic controller that they were “managing the ice” but were facing “moderate” turbulence and seeking “better rides”.
Less than a minute later, the person said “Mayday, mayday” and cautioned that the plane was descending at 10,000 feet per minute.
Seconds later, the person declared an emergency as the descent rate increased to 20,000 feet per minute.
Less than 20 seconds later, the person said: “We're going to crash into the ground” before adding that the descent rate had reached 22,000 feet per minute as the plane began banking.
About 35 seconds after the first mayday call, the last words heard from the cockpit were a rapidly spoken “We're out of time.”
Probe launched
The federal aviation administration (FAA) and the national transportation safety board (NTSB) are investigating the crash.
Authorities have not released the identities of the nine victims. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
