Palm Beach plane crash kills all nine on board
A Learjet 60 crashed into a residential neighborhood after the pilot declared an emergency due to icing and turbulence.
By Daphne Turner ·
All nine people aboard a private jet died when the aircraft crashed into a neighborhood in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday afternoon.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the death toll in a post on the social media platform X. He described the incident as a horrible tragedy and stated that the Federal Aviation Administration would support the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the cause of the crash.
The Learjet 60 struck the ground at 12:50 p.m. in Palm Beach County. Witnesses described the plane as diving steeply toward the earth before exploding in a large fireball. The impact occurred near a busy roadway, leaving a crater next to the street. Black smoke covered the area where fragments of asphalt lay scattered around the crash site.
Family members identified the co-pilot as Nathalia G. Filgueiras, a 20-year-old woman. Her father confirmed the identification. Her sister stated that the family is of Brazilian origin and that Filgueiras learned to fly from her father, who is a pilot. The sister said that flying was Filgueiras’ greatest passion.
Air traffic control recordings captured the pilot’s communications in the minutes before the crash. The pilot reported encountering clear and light icing along with moderate turbulence. He noted that the jet was being shaken by turbulence at altitudes up to 700 feet. After encountering precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency as the aircraft lost altitude rapidly.
The pilot transmitted that the plane was descending at 8,000 feet per minute and issued a mayday call. He later reported a descent rate of 10,000 feet per minute. In his final transmission, the pilot said the aircraft was in an overspeed condition, descending at 20,000 feet per minute, and declared that they were going to crash into the ground.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited the scene and described the event to reporters. He said the plane appeared like a missile descending from the sky and noted that the crash occurred very close to homes and passing vehicles.
