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A private jet crashed in a residential area of Cresthaven in the US state of Florida’s Palm Beach County on Sunday, killing all nine people on board.
The Learjet 60 business jet nose-dived into the south Florida neighborhood and exploded.
Videos circulating on social media, recorded by people from their vehicles, shows the plane making a loud whooshing sound as it rapidly descends to hit the side of a road and erupts into a large fireball.
The plane’s descent in the footage resembled — as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described — “a missile going down.”
A thick plume of black and gray smoke is seen rising against houses, which were narrowly missed.
The crash left a crater on the road, with flames flickering around it.
What do we know about the Florida plane crash?
The plane had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
It was heading east at 35,000 feet (about 10,660 meters) when the pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation. They requested to climb another 2,000 feet (about 610 meters).
Just moments after, the jet dived steeply, at 10,000 feet per minute initially and then at 20,000 feet per minute to reach up to 30,000 feet per minute — a speed exceeding the plane’s design limits — as per air traffic control recording and flight tracking data.
Last words from the cockpit — ‘We are out of time’
LiveATC, which provides live air traffic control broadcasts, captured the harrowing final moments of the crash in an audio recording from a Miami air traffic control center.
A person from the plane’s cockpit is heard saying “Mayday, mayday, we are descending 10,000 feet per minute.”
The person declares an “emergency” just seconds later, urgently reporting a descent of 20,000 feet per minute.
“We’re going to crash into the ground” the voice from the cockpit says and then goes on to report that the descent was at 22,000 feet and the plane was banking 60 degrees.
A scream is heard before the final words from the cockpit — “We are out of time.”
Investigation underway
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the crash occurred at 12.50 pm local time and described the incident as a “horrific tragedy.”
The cause of the crash and the identities of those on board the plane were not immediately known.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a probe into the incident.
There are no immediate reports of anyone on the ground being injured or killed.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said at a press briefing that some 600 people were being evacuated from the area and relocated to two shelters.
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