Sunday’s crash in Palm Beach County is the deadliest ever involving a Learjet 60, a midsize business jet that carries the highest incident and accident rate in its class, according to Flight Safety Foundation data.
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All nine people aboard were killed when the jet went down around 12:50 p.m. near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in the Greenacres area. It had departed Austin, Texas, and was headed to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
NewsNation reports the jet entered a steep dive that sped up as it fell, dropping 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000, then as fast as 35,000 feet per minute. The FAA put the descent at about 350 feet per second, which works out to roughly 21,000 feet per minute. Either way, the plane was falling far faster than any normal descent. A commercial flight coming in to land typically drops somewhere around 1,500 to 3,000 feet per minute.
Air traffic control audio captured the crew’s final minutes. A woman on the flight deck first reported light ice on the aircraft and moderate turbulence. Minutes later she declared a mayday, reported an overspeed condition, meaning the plane was flying faster than its maximum safe speed, and told the controller, “We’re gonna crash into the ground.”
The Learjet 60 is a twin engine business jet built by Bombardier, the Canadian company that owns the Learjet brand. It was developed from the older Learjet 55 and is known for raw performance, able to climb to 41,000 feet in about 18 and a half minutes at full weight. Its two Pratt and Whitney Canada engines sit on the back of the fuselage, and the tail is shaped like a T.
Bombardier stopped building the Learjet 60 in 2007 after producing 318 of them. Because the model is older, the price has dropped sharply over the years. By 2018, one could be bought for $1 million or less, putting it within reach of smaller private owners and companies.
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That performance has come with a troubled safety record. The Learjet 60 has the highest incident and accident rate of any jet in its class, with most of those accidents happening during landing. Sunday’s crash was different. The jet was at cruising altitude when the trouble started.
The plane in Sunday’s crash, tail number N722BD, was 22 years old. FAA records list its owner as LR60271 LLC, a company based in Wilmington, Delaware, and show its current registration was issued in January 2023. The FAA registry lists the aircraft with 11 seats. Officials have not said who was flying the jet, who chartered or owned the trip, or how many of the nine people on board were crew members.
Weather in the area Sunday afternoon was overcast with rain and lightning. Investigators have not said whether the ice, the turbulence, the storms or a mechanical problem played a role.
The NTSB is leading the investigation with help from the FAA and is scheduled to hold a media briefing in West Palm Beach on Monday. The victims have not been identified.
