All 9 people aboard a plane that crashed in Florida have died, according to the Transportation Secretary.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A business jet carrying nine people plunged into a South Florida neighborhood Sunday and erupted into a giant fireball that appeared to narrowly miss homes before crashing near a busy highway. All those on board were killed, the national transport secretary said.

Video recorded by people inside their cars captured the terrifying moment the Bahamas-bound plane plunged from the sky, before hitting near the road and exploding. Flames flickered around the chunks of sidewalk bordering the crater as people crowded around, expressing shock that they had landed just yards from homes and inches from passing vehicles. Thick black smoke filled the accident site.

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that the Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County at 12:50 p.m. and called it a “horrible tragedy.” The Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of people injured or killed on the ground.

“It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” DeSantis told reporters at the scene. “It looked like a missile falling and leaving a big crater on the side of the road.”

Rain hit the region on Sunday. A flood watch due to excessive rainfall was in effect through Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

The plane took off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Authorities did not immediately say what caused the plane to go down or who was on board.

First responders work after a Learjet 60 carrying nine people crashed in a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida, November 1, 2026. Photo by Giorgio Viera/Reuters

The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet (about 11 kilometers) when the pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and requested to climb to 2,000 feet (about 610 meters).

Moments later, the plane entered a steep dive, first at 10,000 feet per minute, then at 20,000 feet per minute and up to 30,000 feet per minute, accelerating the plane beyond its design limits, according to air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data.

A pilot declared an emergency and issued distress calls. The plane tilted sharply to the right before crashing suddenly to the ground.

Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice buildup on the plane and turbulence that shook it up to 700 feet, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.

“We have light, clear, manageable ice and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.

But the situation quickly deteriorated. After encountering precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency as the plane began to lose altitude at an alarming rate.

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“We’re going down at 8,000 feet per minute, mayday, mayday, we’re going down at 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot said over the radio.

“We’re on overspeed descending at 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed, before devastatingly acknowledging what was about to happen. “We’re going to crash to the ground.”

Jim Reynolds, a spokesman for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said the plane was a private plane. He could not immediately provide details about who was on board the flight.

Palm Beach County authorities are evacuating about 600 people from a nearby mobile home community while federal authorities investigate the crash. The road will be closed until further notice, departmental authorities said.

The accident occurred in Greenacres, Florida, according to Palm Beach County sheriff’s officials. The town of 45,000 is about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach.