Before a fatal Florida crash, a Learjet 60 pilot reported a descent of 20,000 feet per minute in an air traffic control call captured by LiveATC.net and transcribed by the Associated Press (AP).
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the jet crashed in a residential area near Cresthaven at about 12:50 p.m. ET Sunday, Nov. 1, while flying from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said all nine people aboard died.
AP's excerpts show the pilot first reporting light, clear ice and moderate turbulence, then a descent of 10,000 feet per minute before citing 20,000 feet per minute in an overspeed condition. “We’re going to crash into the ground,” the pilot said, according to AP's transcription.
LiveATC.net's recording is an air traffic control exchange. It is not identified as cockpit voice recorder audio, and AP's rendering is not an official NTSB transcript. An earlier EconoTimes report on the Palm Beach County crash covered the scene.
The FAA said its information is preliminary and may change. The NTSB will lead the investigation and provide updates; the FAA notice did not state a cause.
