A Florida family has described how their apartment was left 'shaking' when a business jet plummeted to the ground 'like a missile' on Sunday, killing all nine people onboard.
The frightened mother and son were just about to leave their home in Greenacres at around 12.50pm when the $2 million Learjet 60 traveling from Texas crashed near the intersection of Military Trail and 10th Avenue North in what the mother said 'felt like [a] super big explosion.'
A Florida mother and son were getting ready to leave home when a massive explosion suddenly shook their apartment.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 2, 2026
The mother says her frightened son rushed to her as the windows rattled and the power went out. He initially thought the blast was a huge lightning strike, but… pic.twitter.com/p070VOp0da
He had thought 'it was like a ginormous lightning strike' at first, the boy said.
But soon, his mom said they lost power at the apartment and the curtains over their windows 'like started shaking a bit.'
Finally, about seven minutes after impact, the electricity came back.
When they then peered out the windows, 'there was like some smoke, black smoke,' the mom said. 'And then we started hearing... the sirens sounding three minutes after.'
Other witnesses have described being 'lifted from the ground' as the road started to buckle and a massive blaze erupted.
A $2 million Learjet 60 with nine people onboard plummeted to the ground on Sunday
A driver's dash cam footage shows the moment the plane crashed near the road and exploded into a massive ball of fire on Sunday. The FAA confirmed there were nine people onboard
The impact left a massive crater in the middle of the road, damaging nearby infrastructure
The plane was carrying nine people when it plummeted out of the sky in poor weather conditions, just eight miles from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, erupting into a colossal fire on impact near West Palm Beach.
Harrowing dash camera footage showed the jet sharply crashing to the ground and causing the massive explosion.
'When you see that video, you know, it's a jarring thing,' Governor Ron DeSantis said, standing in the pouring rain near the crash site on Sunday evening. 'It was like... a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere.'
The impact left debris scattered across a significant distance and a massive crater in the road, but authorities said nobody on the ground was injured or killed in the crash.
Yet nearly 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community are now being forced to relocate, with authorities saying the entrance to their neighborhood was located directly next to the wreckage.
'Unfortunately, that's a crime scene. They're investigating that, so the people can't stay there,' former Greenacres Mayor and current Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said at a news conference.
The crash also damaged nearby infrastructure, potentially affecting water and other services, he and other elected officials said.
County officials are now preparing two shelters for the displaced residents, as the American Red Cross remains on standby.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the moment the plane fell as looking 'like a missile'
Officials do not believe the road where the plane crashed will be open for another month
Police and emergency vehicles are seen closing off the street
It now remains unlikely that the part of the road where the plane crashed will be open 'in the next 30 days,' Flores said.
Nearby businesses may also face prolonged closures as crews work to repair the roadway and federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board examine the wreckage.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
But air traffic control audio revealed that the female pilot relayed pivotal information to an air traffic controller just seconds before it plunged thousands of feet in a minute.
The air traffic controllers in nearby Miami had given pilots permission to 'deviate left and right' due to 'moderate precipitation... to the southeast' that they described as 'pretty nasty' as the twin-engine business jet approached the area.
The controllers could then be heard describing 'moderate turbulence' before the pilot's tone swiftly descends into panic as she realizes something is wrong with the jet.
The controllers are describing 'moderate turbulence' before the pilot's tone swiftly descends into panic as she realizes something is wrong with the jet.
Nearly 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community are now being forced to relocate following the crash
She is heard saying: 'Seven two two bravo delta, we're descending 8,000... mayday mayday... we're descending 10,000 ft per minute.
Seconds later, she screams 'declaring emergency, declaring emergency we are in an overspeed condition' before her voice breaks as she shrieks 'descending 20,000 ft per minute...we're going to crash into the ground.'
'I'm here with you, talk to me,' the air traffic controller says in an attempt to calm the situation.
'We are descending 22,000 ft, and we are banking 60 degrees.' This means the wings were tilted at a 60-degree angle, meaning the jet was nearly completely sideways.
'We're out of time,' she screamed.
The Daily Mail has chosen not to publish the final seconds of audio which are extremely distressing.
When he was later asked about the aircraft's rapid descent, DeSantis suggested something may have gone wrong before the plane struck the ground.
'To see the way it descended, yeah, I think you can make the inference that something happened in the air that was a big problem,' he said.
Weather conditions in the West Palm Beach area on Sunday afternoon were poor, overcast with rain and lightning in the area and winds from the east at 15 mph, gusting to near 25 mph. The National Weather Service in Miami said visibility was 7 miles.
The flight had set off from Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas before its path abruptly ended just near West Palm Beach, according to flight data.
President Trump had been in Palm Beach at his Mar-a-Lago resort Saturday night, celebrating the holiday by hosting hundreds of friends at a jungle-themed Halloween party.
The president made an appearance, dressed as himself.
'I've spent nine hours getting ready,' he joked. 'I had ten minutes, so I came as Donald Trump tonight! Hello everybody.'
But as the plane crashed down on Sunday, Trump made his way to Iowa for the final leg of his midterm campaign.
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