Nine killed after private jet plunges from sky as pilot’s final words emerge

Chilling last words

The crash occurred in a residential area near Cresthaven, at around 12.50pm local time (5.50pm UK) on Sunday.

As he called it a “horrific tragedy”, the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, confirmed the deaths of all nine people on board.

“Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost”, he said.

The plane was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, having departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, as Florida governor DeSantis said there were no immediate reports for injuries or deaths of anyone on the ground.

“It was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road”, DeSantis told reporters at the scene.

The governor added that there was a lot of debris scattered over a “significant distance”.

How the horrific tragedy unfolded

The Learjet aircraft erupted into a massive fireball as it crashed near a major roadway, just inches from passing vehicles.

In the footage, the plane, much like the governor described, can be seen nose-diving like a missile, and then erupting into a giant fireball.

When pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation, the jet was making its way east at 35,000ft, and they requested to climb another 2,000ft.

According to air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data, the jet entered a steep dive just seconds later, as it speeded beyond its design limits.

The final words said by the pilot while pleading for help

The pilot radioed: “We're descending 8,000 - mayday, mayday - we're descending 10,000ft per minute.”

“We're going to crash into the ground.”

The last thing heard from the cockpit was “we’re out of time”, around 35 seconds after the first mayday announcement.

A spokesperson for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Jim Reynolds, said the jet was a private plane.

However, he could not immediately provide details about who was on the flight.

The transportation secretary said that the Federal Aviation Administration is sending a team to support the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation.