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9 dead as jet nosedives and erupts into fireball near busy roadway in South Florida

By · Via NPR · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The private Learjet 60 plummeted from 35,000 feet while flying from Texas to the Bahamas, recording descent rates of up to 30,000 feet per minute before exploding. Pilots had issued distress calls, reported an overspeed state, and requested a higher altitude to escape worsening weather conditions prior to impact. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed that no people on the ground were killed or injured despite the blast occurring near homes. Roughly 600 people from an adjacent mobile home community were displaced as local officials closed the adjacent roadway.

Key points

  • Federal agencies are actively investigating whether adverse weather conditions triggered…: Federal agencies are actively investigating whether adverse weather conditions triggered an aerodynamic stall and the fatal dive.
  • The aircraft exceeded operational structural limits during a precipitous drop that reache…: The aircraft exceeded operational structural limits during a precipitous drop that reached 30,000 feet per minute.
  • Ground casualties were completely avoided even though the jet created a crater near popul…: Ground casualties were completely avoided even though the jet created a crater near populated residential dwellings and a roadway.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A business jet carrying nine people nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood Sunday and erupted into a giant fireball that appeared to just miss homes near a busy roadway. Everyone on board was killed, the nation's transportation secretary said.

Video recorded by people inside their cars captured the terrifying moment the Bahamas-bound aircraft plunged from the sky before striking near the Palm Beach County roadway and exploding. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining a crater as people milled about, expressing shock that it landed only feet from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m. and called it a "horrific tragedy." The Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of anyone on the ground injured or killed.

"It was a cataclysmic plane crash," DeSantis told reporters at the scene. "It looked like a missile going…

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