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9 dead after business jet crashes in Palm Beach County

9 dead after business jet crashes in Palm Beach County
117
Today, 09:01

A business jet crashed in a neighbourhood in Florida on Sunday, killing all nine people on board, the US transport secretary has said.

The crash happened near Cresthaven, some nine miles (14 km) from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's resort in the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach County, around 12:50 EST (17:50 GMT).

Images from after the crash show a crater in the middle of a residential road, with patches of fire and pieces of concrete and debris from the Learjet 60 aircraft scattered.

The aircraft had departed from Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

In air traffic control audio recorded moments before the crash, the pilot of the aircraft can be heard saying the plane was descending 10,000 feet per minute, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Then the pilot declared an emergency, yelling, "We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute," CBS reported.

"We're gonna crash ... We're out of time," the pilot told the tower.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the crash as a "horrific tragedy", and said the FAA was sending a team to the scene to help an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.