Nine people died Sunday in a Palm Beach County, Florida, neighbourhood when a Learjet 60 business jet went down around 12:50 p.m. The plane hit the ground and turned into a fireball near a major road, leaving a large crater. No victims have been identified. Authorities also haven’t said whether there were more crew members or passengers. No injuries were reported on the ground.

What Happened

The twin-engine jet, described as a 2004 Learjet 60, was travelling from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. The jet is registered to LR60271 LLC in Delaware.

Minutes before the plane crashed, controllers were told by the pilot that there was ice accumulation on the jet. The pilot also reported the outside temperature was minus 47 C and that there was moderate turbulence. The pilot also told controllers that the jet was in an overspeed condition and descending 20,000 feet per minute. In dashcam footage, the plane can be seen heading into the ground at a high rate of speed, nose first.

It was a cataclysmic crash, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said. Wreckage was scattered over a big area. Officials in Palm Beach County had evacuated about 600 people from a nearby mobile home community. Motorists were urged to stay out of the area. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the loss of life on the plane via social media, stating that everyone on board was killed.

The Investigation and Open Questions

The National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation with help from the FAA. NTSB investigators are expected to arrive soon at the scene. No cause has been determined for the crash. It’s not known whether there was a mechanical issue or if weather or icing were factors, or if it was something else entirely. What the pilot was reporting is early information the NTSB will review along with the crash site, radar data and maintenance records of the aircraft.

The Learjet 60 crash is the deadliest crash involving such an aircraft, according to the Flight Safety Foundation. The previous deadliest involved a Learjet 60 when four people were killed in 2008 when a Learjet 60 ran off the runway during takeoff at Columbia, South Carolina. It’s the second-deadliest U.S. plane crash this year, according to the NTSB. In June, 12 people died when a skydiving plane crashed in Butler, Missouri.

The area of the crash is being described as Greenacres, Cresthaven and Palm Springs. They’re all in the same area of Palm Beach County.