Learjet Crash in Greenacres Kills All Nine Aboard — DeSantis Calls It 'Cataclysmic' as 600 Neighbors Evacuate and the NTSB Heads In

A private jet bound for the Bahamas crashed into a mobile-home park in the Greenacres area of Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people aboard. The Learjet 60, en route from Austin, Texas, came down at about 12:50 p.m. in the park near Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard, the Palm Beach Post reported. As of Sunday afternoon, officials said there were no reports of anyone on the ground being killed or injured.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking near the scene on Sunday, called it a 'cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down.' He said the debris from the crash covered a huge radius. County Commissioner Joel Flores said about 600 people who live in a community next to the crash site had to leave for Sunday night, moving to one of two county shelters while federal investigators work the scene, and County Administrator Joe Abruzzo said the county would submit an emergency declaration to the governor to help deal with the aftermath. Flores said the crash left a massive crater in the ground along Military Trail and that he could not imagine the road reopening to southbound traffic within the next 30 days.

Federal aviation officials were expected in Palm Beach County as soon as Sunday night, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it has initiated a go-team to arrive on the scene Sunday night and Monday morning; the NTSB will lead the investigation into the cause, with FAA support. The FAA had not identified anyone aboard the plane as of 7 p.m. Sunday, and no cause has been stated. Afternoon storms covered much of South Florida at the time of the crash, bringing gusts of wind near 25 mph and patches of lightning, the Post reported — weather that is part of the scene investigators inherit, not, at this stage, an explanation.