A Learjet 60 private jet crashed in a residential area in Palm Beach County, Florida (USA), a few kilometers south of West Palm Beach airport. The impact occurred around 12.50pm (local time, 6.50pm in Italy) yesterday, November 1st: the plane crashed into Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, exploding in a fireball that left a crater in the ground, as visible in the video above.
Unfortunately, all nine people on board lost their lives. This was confirmed by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. There appear to be no victims or injuries on the ground, but Palm Beach County authorities have evacuated around 600 people living nearby.
The plane had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom Airport in Texas and was headed to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. The causes of the accident have not yet been confirmed: according to some hypotheses, the complex weather conditions may have created difficulties for the aircraft: the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) have opened an investigation to reconstruct the dynamics.
What do we know about the possible dynamics and causes of the accident
The aircraft was a Learjet 60, manufactured in 2004, which took off from Austin-Bergstrom Airport that same morning. According to flight tracking data, the plane had reached a cruising altitude of 41,000 feet (about 12,500 meters), before descending to around 35,000 feet near Naples, Florida.
At this point, according to recordings of radio communications between the pilot and air traffic control, it appears that the crew reported conditions of moderate turbulence, icing and an external temperature of -47°C. The pilot informed the controllers that he had “light, manageable clear ice and moderate turbulence”, with altitude fluctuations of up to 700 feet (about 213 metres).
Shortly afterwards, however, the pilot requested authorization to climb to 37,000 feet, a maneuver authorized by the air traffic control centre: at that moment, however, something went wrong. The plane reportedly began losing altitude at an extremely high speed, with the pilot declaring an emergency.
Data recorded by Flightradar24 shows that the rate of descent exceeded 32,000 feet (about 9,754 meters) per minute, almost 585 km/h, before the signal stopped. In just over a minute, the plane would then have gone from about 35,000 feet to 8,750 feet (about 2,670 meters), and then crashed into the ground, creating a “crater” in the road, clearly visible in the video below.
According to initial reconstructions, the plane would have reached the condition of overspeed: this means that it was exceeding the structural speed limits of the aircraft.
The causes of this accident, therefore, are not yet clear: at the time of the tragedy, strong storms were hitting southern Florida. According to some hypotheses, the plane may have passed through a particularly intense storm cell a few minutes before the start of the rapid descent.
Investigators, however, have not yet established whether the complex weather conditions or a possible mechanical problem were behind the crash.
What is the Learjet 60 and what are its features
The Learjet 60 is a medium-sized business jet produced by Bombardier Aerospace. The aircraft consists of two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A turbofan engines: the aircraft can reach a maximum cruising speed of approximately 863 km/h and an economical cruising speed of approx 779 km/h. The range, with four passengers and two pilots on board, is approximately 2,405 nautical miles (just over 4,450 km), sufficient to cover routes such as New York-Miami.
The cabin of the Learjet 60 is the largest among those of the Learjet company, designed to accommodate up to eight passengers in maximum configuration. The aircraft is approximately 17.9 meters long, with a wingspan of 13.3 meters and can operate up to a service altitude of 51,000 feet (approximately 15,500 meters). For comparison, traditional passenger airliners (such as Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s) have a structural and pressurization limit that is usually between 39,000 and 41,000 feet.
The model is used both by private operators and companies, as in this case, and by some armed forces and government administrations around the world.
