Learjet 60 Crash in Florida: What Happened During the Final 60 Seconds

Learjet 60 Crash in Florida: N722BD Final 60 Seconds — What Happened, What Is Still Unknown

On Sunday 1 November 2026, a Bombardier Learjet 60, registration N722BD, crashed on Military Trail in the Greenacres/Cresthaven area of Palm Beach County, Florida, at about 12:49 to 12:50 p.m. Eastern Time. All 9 people aboard were killed. The aircraft had been cruising at about 35,000 feet on a private flight from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas when it entered a steep, tightening, right-hand descending spiral and hit the ground about 77 seconds after it first departed level flight.

The cause is not established. The NTSB is leading the investigation and had issued no preliminary report or probable cause at the time this article was written. Nothing in this article should be read as a finding about why control was lost. The second-by-second timeline below is a provisional reconstruction from ADS-B tracking data, not an NTSB flight-recorder timeline.

Illustrative image — not a photo of the actual crash, and not the actual aircraft N722BD.

Key Takeaways

• Flight: Austin-Bergstrom (KAUS) to North Eleuthera (MYEH), Bahamas, on 1 November 2026.
• Aircraft: Bombardier Learjet 60, N722BD, serial 60-271, registered to LR60271 LLC of Wilmington, Delaware. The 2004 build year is the consensus of tracking and aviation reporting; the FAA registry itself leaves the year blank.
• Aboard: 9 people, all 9 killed, confirmed by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on 1 November. No deaths or injuries on the ground were confirmed in immediate reports.
• Final descent: From about 35,000 feet, the crew reported descending 10,000 feet per minute, then an overspeed descent at 20,000 feet per minute, then 22,000 feet per minute while banking 60 degrees.
• What is not known: The cause, victim identities, passenger/crew split, confirmed operator, flight purpose, and recorder recovery status. None of these is stated as fact in this article.

What happened, in brief

The flight departed Austin-Bergstrom at 15:37 UTC (about 10:37 a.m. Eastern) on 1 November 2026. Tracking shows it climbed to about 41,000 feet, then descended to about 35,000 feet near Naples, Florida, in the early afternoon and levelled off.

In its final minutes, the crew told Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that it had light, clear ice that was manageable, moderate turbulence bouncing the aircraft by up to 700 feet, an outside air temperature of minus 47 degrees Celsius, and precipitation. The crew asked for a climb to 37,000 feet for a better ride, and air traffic control approved it.

Immediately after acknowledging that climb, the crew declared a mayday. The aircraft then entered the rapid descent described below and crashed on Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, near the entrance to a mobile-home community.

Place names vary by outlet for the same corridor: the FAA said near Cresthaven, the NTSB said Lake Worth Beach, and the sheriff and other reporting said Greenacres. This article uses Greenacres/Cresthaven area, Palm Beach County, to cover that corridor.

The final minutes

• About 12:35 to 12:41 p.m. Eastern: The aircraft descends from about 41,000 feet to about 35,000 feet near Naples and levels off.
• About 12:47 p.m. Eastern: A right turn near the Palm Beach area, heading changing from about 051 degrees to about 100 degrees, at about 460 knots groundspeed, in the provisional tracking analysis.
• Final minutes, exact clock time not published in an official transcript: The crew reports light clear ice, moderate turbulence, minus 47 degrees Celsius outside, and precipitation, and requests a climb to 37,000 feet. Air traffic control approves the climb.
• Immediately after: Mayday, followed by the escalating descent calls below.

The final 60 seconds: a provisional reconstruction

Read this section with care. It is based on an independent analysis of ADS-B Exchange tracking data by BizJet Journal and VisaVerge. Those analysts state explicitly that they did not independently reprocess the underlying tracking file, that vertical rates were calculated from GPS altitude changes over about 4-second windows, and that speed and angle figures are estimates, not flight-recorder measurements.

• 12:48:06 to 12:48:16 p.m. Eastern: A brief climb of about 450 feet above 35,000 feet, identified as the first departure from the prior level pattern.
• 12:48:16 p.m. Eastern: The nose drops and the descent begins.
• 12:48:16 to 12:48:32 p.m. Eastern: Descent rate reaches about 20,000 feet per minute within about 16 seconds.
• 12:48:32 to 12:48:48 p.m. Eastern: Descent holds near 20,000 feet per minute, with a trajectory of about 22 degrees nose-down and an estimated true speed of about 540 knots, about Mach 0.9. The Learjet 60 maximum operating Mach is 0.81, so the estimate, if correct, is above that limit.
• 12:48:48 to 12:49:33 p.m. Eastern: The dive steepens to about 50 degrees nose-down passing about 18,000 feet, reaching an estimated 65 to 70 degrees late in the descent, at an estimated 575 to 600 knots true, in a continuing right turn from about 100 degrees to 292 degrees. The analysis describes a tightening right-hand spiral, with no apparent recovery in the recorded trajectory. That does not prove what recovery actions the crew attempted.
• 12:49:22 p.m. Eastern (17:49:22 UTC): Last barometric altitude received by Flightradar24: 8,750 feet. GPS altitude continued to about 400 feet, which is why some reports say the jet fell from 8,000 feet and others say from 35,000 feet. Both describe different points on the same descent.
• About 12:49 to 12:50 p.m. Eastern: Impact on Military Trail. Total time from 35,000 feet to impact is estimated at about 77 seconds. The transponder-encoded vertical-rate field hit its limit at minus 32,640 feet per minute; GPS-based calculations exceeded 50,000 feet per minute at low altitude. Those are different measures over different windows, not a single precise rate for every moment.

What the crew said on the radio

No official NTSB transcript has been released. The lines below are as reported by CNN, AP, AVweb, AIN and FirstPost from LiveATC audio of Miami Center communications. Treat them as reported, not as an official transcript.

• On ice and turbulence: We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence.
• On a better ride: The crew reported precipitation and requested a climb to 37,000 feet. Air traffic control approved it and the crew acknowledged.
• Mayday: We are descending 10,000 feet per minute, with a mayday call.
• Overspeed: We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute.
• Controller: November two Bravo Delta, I am here with you, talk to me.
• Bank and descent: We are descending 22,000 feet, and we are banking, 60 degrees.
• Final reported words: We are going to crash into the ground.

The crew's own words establish icing, turbulence and precipitation as experienced, a climb request, and then an overspeed descent. They do not establish why control was lost, and no cause, engine failure or flight-control failure call is shown in the reported audio.

Weather and ground impact

Weather in South Florida that day included scattered thunderstorms, heavy rain and a flood watch through Monday 2 November. Observations differ by site and time, so do not blend them into one number: AVweb cites a National Weather Service observation about 15 minutes before the crash with thunderstorms in the vicinity, 3 miles visibility and gusts to 19 knots, while USA Today cites National Weather Service Miami with overcast, rain and lightning, winds from the east at about 15 miles per hour gusting to 25, and 7 miles visibility. Whether weather contributed to the crash has not been established.

On the ground, the impact created a large crater in or beside Military Trail, with burning debris scattered over a significant distance. At least one mobile home was destroyed or significantly damaged. Underground water mains were severed and power lines were downed. About 600 residents of the nearby mobile-home community were evacuated to two county shelters. Military Trail was closed in both directions between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, with officials estimating at least 30 days to reopen. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue declared a mass-casualty incident and hospitals were put on mass-casualty alert. Governor Ron DeSantis, at the scene, said there were no immediate reports of anyone on the ground being killed or injured. That is an absence of immediate reports, not a final medical clearance.

Airport and runway conditions are not a causal factor on current evidence. The aircraft was en route at cruise altitude and was not landing at, taking off from, or diverting to Palm Beach International Airport, which is near the crash site but was not its destination.

What investigators have not said yet

• NTSB leads, FAA supports. The FAA stated that the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates.
• Go-team: The NTSB launched a go-team, with investigators arriving Sunday 1 November and Monday morning 2 November.
• Monday briefing: The NTSB said a media briefing would be held in West Palm Beach on Monday 2 November. No briefing outcome was in the sources used for this article.
• Typical timeline, general practice only: A preliminary factual report typically within about 30 days, and a final probable-cause report typically in 12 to 24 months. That is not a promise for this case.
• What investigators will examine, standard scope: Wreckage and impact area, flight data and cockpit voice recorders if fitted and recoverable, air traffic control recordings and radar data, weather data, maintenance records, crew records, and witness interviews.
• Recorder caveat: CNN notes it is not clear if the plane had a cockpit voice recorder on board, and one analyst warned the flight data recorder could have been destroyed in the explosion. Do not state as fact that recorders were or were not recovered.

Probable factors discussed in reporting, all explicitly not findings, include icing, turbulence, precipitation and thunderstorms, aerodynamic stall, structural failure, loss of control, and flight-control malfunction. News reporting states explicitly that neither icing nor turbulence has been established as the cause.

FAQ

What happened to Learjet N722BD in Florida?

A Learjet 60 on a private flight from Austin to North Eleuthera crashed on Military Trail in Palm Beach County on 1 November 2026, killing all 9 aboard. The cause is not established.

How fast did the Learjet descend?

The crew reported 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute in an overspeed condition, then 22,000 feet per minute while banking 60 degrees. Tracking analyses put the peak encoded rate at more than 32,000 feet per minute. These are different measures, not a single rate.

Was the cause icing or weather?

That has not been established. The crew reported light ice, moderate turbulence and precipitation, and thunderstorms were in the area, but investigators have not said weather caused the crash.

Who was on board the Learjet?

That has not been released. Officials have not identified the nine people or confirmed how many were passengers and how many were crew.

Who was operating the flight?

That has not been confirmed by an official source. The registered owner is LR60271 LLC, but owner is not the same as operator, and whether Part 91 private or Part 135 charter rules applied has not been established publicly.

Has the NTSB issued a preliminary report?

No, not at the time this article was written. A preliminary factual report is typically expected within about 30 days, with a final report much later.

Sources

• Flightradar24: Learjet 60 crashes near West Palm Beach, Florida
• CNN: Learjet crashes and erupts into flames in Florida, killing all 9 on board
• AVweb: Nine Killed in Florida Learjet Accident
• AIN: Florida Learjet Crash Claims Nine
• BizJet Journal: Learjet 60 N722BD Crash Near West Palm Beach Kills Nine
• FirstPost: Florida plane crash, what happened in the final minutes