Witnesses recount the moments a Bahamas-bound private jet from Texas crashed at a Palm Beach neighborhood

A private business jet traveling from Texas to the Bahamas plunged nearly 9,000 feet in seconds and slammed into a busy roadway in Palm Beach County, erupting into a massive fireball that left a crater in the street, killed all of the passengers on board, and forced roughly 600 nearby residents from their homes, officials and witnesses said. 

The Learjet 60, registered in Delaware, was carrying nine people from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when the crew began reporting severe weather and turbulence. 

According to flight data, the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of nearly 9,000 feet before it entered a steep dive toward the ground at a rate exceeding 32,000 feet per minute. 

Air traffic control audio captured the pilot reporting severe turbulence and icing before the jet plummeted. 

"The captain there, she had asked for a higher altitude to go up to get above this precipitation, and at that particular point, something catastrophic happened," aviation attorney Willard Shepard said. 

Shepard noted that a pilot would normally be able to recover from that, since they had the time and altitude to do it. 

"I want to emphasize this: when you're coming to land at MIA, Fort Lauderdale, or up in Palm Beach County, you're landing at about 600 feet per minute. This aircraft was coming out of the sky at above 30,000 feet per minute, more than 50 times the rate of descent," Shepard said. 

The violent impact occurred directly on Military Trail Road, leaving a scorched crater in the asphalt and scattering wreckage across the surrounding neighborhood.

"Look, when you see that video, it's a jarring thing," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. "It was like a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere."

The explosion and ensuing fire prompted emergency officials to evacuate approximately 600 residents from the immediate vicinity.

Witnesses on the ground recount the horror of the crash

Drivers traveling along the roadway watched the catastrophic crash unfold directly ahead of them.

Vanessa Torres said her mother was driving along Military Trail Road when the plane hit the pavement just feet from her vehicle.

"She was freaking out. She was about to cry," Torres said. "Everybody was getting out of their cars, trying to see what happened. They thought somebody caught on fire, I guess, because of the car that was there. So everybody was trying to help out."

The impact knocked out electrical power to neighboring blocks, leaving residents initially wondering if severe weather had struck.

Lyda Frezza, who lives nearby, said the explosion initially sounded like lightning and thunder before her home lost electricity.

"And then my neighbor came over. She was upset, screaming and yelling, saying, 'Did you hear that?'" Frezza said. "I go, 'Yeah. What is it?' She goes, 'It was a plane crash. It was a plane crash. I know it was.' I go, 'Did you see it?' She goes, 'No, but I heard it.'"

Witnesses who rushed toward the site described scenes of devastation. Jason Valentine, who recorded video footage immediately following the impact, described seeing bystanders in tears amid scattered aircraft parts and remains.

Federal aviation authorities are investigating the crash.