HOUSTON/TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A private jet traveling from Austin, Texas to the Bahamas crashed onto a busy roadway in Palm Beach County, Florida on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard and leaving a large crater and burning debris in a residential area, authorities said.
The Learjet 60, operated by Aurora Aviation doing business as Upper Jets, departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at about 9:37 a.m. Central time bound for North Eleuthera Airport. While climbing through 35,000 feet, the crew reported encountering light clear ice and moderate turbulence. The crew requested and received approval to climb to 37,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds later, the crew reported the plane was descending and declared an emergency, reporting descent rates of 10,000 and then 20,000 feet per minute. One pilot stated the aircraft was in an overspeed condition. The pilots radioed "Mayday, mayday" to the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, reporting they were going to crash into the ground.
The jet descended 27,000 feet over the course of one minute before flight tracking data cut off. The aircraft crashed nose-first onto Military Trail, a major thoroughfare between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, just before 1 p.m. local time. The impact created a large, fiery crater and burning debris dotted the scene, with small pieces of the aircraft scattered across ball fields, businesses and residential properties for about half a mile.
All nine occupants — seven passengers and two crew members — were killed. Among the victims were former Rice University basketball player Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. Robinson, a 2003 Rice graduate, earned two varsity letters on the men's basketball team in 2000 and 2001. Also among the deceased were Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina. The families described Robinson and Sharp as devoted parents whose children were the light of their lives.
Government officials have not determined the cause of the crash. The crew reported ice building up on the aircraft and turbulence strong enough to push it hundreds of feet up or down shortly before the plane plunged toward the ground. The NTSB is investigating with early indications the plane may have begun breaking apart before impact. About 600 residents were displaced after the crash damaged the entrance to a mobile home park. Authorities are conducting a lengthy DNA identification process through the medical examiner's office. The crash marks the second deadliest U.S. plane crash this year and the worst involving a Learjet 60 since 2008.
