A flight track shows the jet beginning its final descent at FL350 before crashing near Greenacres, FL, on November 1, 2026. The fall from cruise altitude to impact took about 77 seconds, according to a review of ADS-B data.
The FAA said nine people were aboard and the aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said all nine people on board were killed.
The track’s final barometric reading created a misleading impression of where the plunge began. That sensor value stopped at 8,750 ft roughly eight seconds before impact, while GPS altitude continued down to about 400 ft.
A tracker displaying only the last barometric value could suggest a descent from around 8,000 ft. The plotted flight path instead shows the aircraft beginning its dive at FL350.
The jet climbed briefly before its nose dropped
The track begins in the Austin area at 10:36 ET, when the aircraft departed and climbed to FL410. It then descended to FL350 between 12:37 and 12:41 at about 1,500 feet per minute, leveling off without an unusual change in the recorded flight path.
Near Palm Beach International Airport, the aircraft turned right at 12:47, changing heading from 051° to about 100°. Its groundspeed was roughly 460 knots. The turn itself appeared routine.
The first marked change came about a minute later. Between 12:48:06 and 12:48:16, the aircraft climbed about 450 feet above FL350 at roughly 1,000 feet per minute. The track review identifies that brief climb as the first sign that the flight had departed from its previous pattern.
At 12:48:16, the nose dropped. Within about 16 seconds, the aircraft was descending at approximately 20,000 feet per minute. The rate figures come from GPS-altitude changes over roughly four-second intervals, so individual readings are noisy; the larger pattern is consistent across the track.
A tightening right turn continued toward impact
From 12:48:32 to 12:48:48, the descent held near 20,000 feet per minute with the nose about 22° down. The jet’s true speed reached roughly 540 knots, around Mach 0.9. The Learjet 60’s maximum operating Mach number, or Mmo, is 0.81.
The dive steepened after that. The aircraft passed 50° nose-down by 18,000 feet, then reached an estimated 65° to 70° near the ground while traveling about 575 to 600 knots true.
The transponder’s encoded descent rate hit its limit, displaying minus 32,640 feet per minute. GPS-based calculations exceeded 50,000 feet per minute at lower altitude. Those extreme readings reflect how quickly the aircraft was losing height, not a precise rate for every moment of the descent.
The jet also continued turning right, from a heading of about 100° to 292° in roughly 75 seconds. The track review describes that path as a tightening spiral, with no visible recovery in the recorded data.
The FAA identified the aircraft and its planned route
The FAA identified the aircraft as a Learjet 60 and said it was traveling from Austin to North Eleuthera. Its statement described the route and passenger count as preliminary information subject to change. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide updates, the FAA said.
The aircraft registration circulating with the track was N722BD, a 2001 jet with serial number 60-271 and Mode S code A9AB17. Registration records link it to LR60271 LLC through a registered-agent address in Wilmington, DE. The FAA’s identification of the aircraft type does not establish that investigators have confirmed the specific tail number.
Jim Reynolds, a spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, confirmed that the departure involved a private aircraft. “This is definitely a tragedy,” he said.
The crash happened near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office closed both northbound and southbound lanes of Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North until further notice. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue described the response as an extended incident.
The flight path cannot establish what caused the loss of control
The recorded climb above cruise altitude, followed by the nose drop and spiral, shows a loss of control but does not identify its cause. Possible explanations include an autopilot, trim or flight-control malfunction, an upset the crew could not recover from, or crew incapacitation. The track cannot distinguish among them.
DeWitt Ingram, a Learjet type-rated captain and founder and president of Par-Avion Group Aviation Consulting, reviewed flight-tracking information and video. He said thunderstorms could expose an aircraft to powerful air currents and severe turbulence, but no evidence in the track confirms that this jet encountered those conditions.
“If the pilot flew into the tops of one of the thunderstorms, in that very rough air, he could have damaged the airplane to the point where he lost control.”
Conditions in the West Palm Beach area included overcast skies, rain and lightning. The National Weather Service in Miami reported easterly winds at 15 mph, gusting to near 25 mph, and visibility of 7 miles. Weather-related damage has not been established.
The continuous track to one impact point does not indicate an in-flight breakup at altitude. Ingram said high-speed impact can break an aircraft into small fragments, but that possibility does not establish what happened before the jet reached the ground.
The NTSB will examine the cockpit voice recorder, wreckage and air traffic control audio. A preliminary report usually follows within a few weeks. As of 4 p.m. ET on November 1, authorities had not confirmed fatalities on the ground.
