A Learjet 60 carrying nine people crashed near a mobile home community in Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing all aboard and forcing the evacuation of approximately 600 residents.
The private jet, which had taken off from Austin, Texas, and was reportedly bound for the Bahamas, plummeted to the ground around 1:25 p.m., exploding into a fireball.
"Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire," said Anthony Blackmon, a resident who was about 500 feet from the crash site. "I've always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today."
Another resident, Roger Forcelle, felt the aircraft pass over his house moments before the crash. "It shook the whole house. It went right over us and crashed probably less than half a mile from where I live," he said. "Everybody came out of their houses because you could feel it shaking."
Dashcam video captured the jet descending rapidly before impacting the ground. Officials described the scene as "cataclysmic."
"Obviously, this was a cataclysmic plane crash. It looked like a missile going down. It left a big crater on the side of the road," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters. "It looked like a meteor hit the ground."
The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a "go-team" to investigate the incident. There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities on the ground.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the number of fatalities on board the aircraft.