A Learjet 60 flying from Austin to the Bahamas plunged into a Palm Beach County roadway at 12:50pm on Sunday, killing all nine people on board.
The backstory: The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was cruising at 35,000 feet when the pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and asked to climb another 2,000 feet.
- "We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence," the pilot told controllers, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.
By the numbers: The aircraft then entered a steep dive that went from 10,000 feet per minute to 20,000 and then 30,000, beyond its design limits, and Flightradar24 put the peak descent rate above 32,000 feet per minute.
- "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute," the pilot radioed, before adding: "We're going to crash into the ground."
Zoom in: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of injuries on the ground. "It was a cataclysmic plane crash," he said. "It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road."
The big picture: Rain had pounded South Florida all day, and the National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect through Monday afternoon.
- Palm Beach County authorities evacuated about 600 people from a nearby mobile home community, and roads near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North stayed closed in both directions.
What's next: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, which opened on Sunday.
Why it matters: Nine people died feet from houses and passing cars on a busy road, and the recordings give investigators a rare minute-by-minute account of how a routine cruise became unrecoverable.
