Harrowing audio from the cockpit of a Learjet 60 that crashed near West Palm Beach on Sunday has revealed the final, terrifying moments before the aircraft plummeted from the sky, killing all nine people on board.
The plane, en route from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, was experiencing "moderate turbulence" before the pilot declared a Mayday. The audio captures her distress as she reported an "overspeed condition" and "descending 10,000 ft per minute."
"We're out of time," she screamed in the final seconds before the crash, which occurred about eight miles from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. The pilot's voice reportedly broke as she shrieked, "descending 20,000 ft per minute... we're going to crash into the ground."
Air traffic controllers attempted to provide assistance, but the jet was reportedly descending at an alarming rate, at one point banking at a 60-degree angle.
The $2 million Learjet 60 crashed around 12:50 p.m. in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, creating a large crater and scattering debris. Dashcam footage captured the moment the jet crashed and exploded into a massive fireball. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office described it as a "mass casualty aircraft-related incident."
The FAA confirmed the flight details and stated that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will lead the investigation. Poor weather conditions were cited prior to the crash.
Donald Trump, who had hosted a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago the previous night, had already departed for Iowa before the crash occurred.
