‘We’re going to crash’: 9 dead after private jet slams into Florida roadside

Nine people have been killed after the Learjet they were travelling in plummeted into a neighbourhood in southern Florida, just kilometres from US President Donald Trump’s resort home of Mar-a-Lago, officials said. 

Witnesses say the aircraft came down nearly vertically, slamming at high speed into the ground and triggering a large fireball, leaving a flaming crater near a busy roadside. 

A section of the road can been seen torn upwards by the impact of the crash in Florida. Photo / Getty Images 

Confirming that all nine people on board were killed, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement: “Today’s plane crash in Palm Beach County, Florida is a horrific tragedy.” 

Duffy said the plane, a Learjet 60, had departed from Austin, Texas, and was headed for the Bahamas. 

The crash occurred near Cresthaven, a neighbourhood in Palm Beach County that is less than 11km from Mar-a-Lago. 

Trump himself had been at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday (local time) and had departed from the nearby and newly renamed President Donald J Trump International Airport shortly after he boarded Air Force One at 11.55am, about an hour before the crash of the Learjet aircraft. 

Storms had been reported in the area. 

“The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate” the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. 

Reports say the pilot made terrified mayday calls in the final seconds of the jet’s power dive 

The female pilot radioed to air-traffic controllers: “Mayday, mayday... we’re descending 10,000 ft per minute.” 

Seconds later she said: “Declaring emergency... we are in an overspeed condition.” 

Her last call was: “Descending 20,000 ft per minute... we’re going to crash into the ground.” 

- AFP