Federal probe launched into deadly Florida plane crash

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation into a deadly plane crash in Florida that killed all people onboard.

Around 12:50 p.m. EST, a Learjet 60 crashed in a neighborhood near Cresthaven, Fla., after departing from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. The flight was en route to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). All nine people on the jet died in the crash.

Duffy in a statement called the incident a “horrific tragedy” and noted the FAA “is sending a team to the scene to support the @NTSB’s investigation.”

“Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost,” he wrote on social platform X. “@FAANews & @USDOT are closely monitoring this crash and will share updates as we learn more.”

The NTSB said on X that investigators were sent to the crash site and arrived Sunday night and Monday morning. A press conference will be held in West Palm Beach.

Videos showing the jet moments before it slammed into the ground went viral online.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said there were no reports of anyone killed on the ground in what he called a “cataclysmic plane crash,” The Associated Press reported.

“It was a ​big-time tragedy that happened,” DeSantis said at a press conference close to ⁠the crash site in Lake Worth Beach, according to Reuters . “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 plane traveled east at 35,000 feet when pilots reported turbulence and icing as the plane faced pounding rain that caused the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch on the ground below.

Pilots requested to climb another 2,000 feet before it dived 10,000 feet per minute, 20,000 feet per minute and up to 30,000 feet per minute at speeds beyond what it was designed for, according to the AP, which cited air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data.

One of the pilots issued distress calls after declaring an emergency, with one of them saying the plane was going to crash. About 35 seconds after the emergency declaration, a pilot quickly said from the cockpit, “We’re out of time,” Reuters reported. The plane banked sharply to the right before it crashed into the ground.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores ​said during the press conference that the accident left a “massive crater” near a mobile home park, prompting the evacuation of around 600 people in the area.

The crash was in Greenacres, Fla., around 10 miles from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.