US Authorities are launching an investigation after a plane crashed into a residential area in Florida, killing all nine people on board on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the circumstances surrounding the plane's crash in Palm Beach County.
The flight was supposed to go from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to the Bahamas, CNN reported. It descended 27,000 feet in under a minute before tracking data cut off, the report added.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the crash as looking "like a missile going down."
According to DeSantis, there are no reports of any casualties on the ground, but the crash caused a significant debris field.
Some 600 people were left in need of shelter on the ground due to the crash, CNN cited a county official as saying.
Pilot reported ice accumulation, turbulence before emergency
The pilot of the plane reported ice accumulating on the aircraft minutes before the crash, as well as moderate turbulence, radioing the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, CNN wrote.
“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot said.
Moments later, the pilot declared an emergency.
“We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday - we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot said. “We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000 feet per minute … We’re going to crash into the ground.”
There were scattered storms reported in the area at the time of the crash, but it is unclear if the storm contributed to the incident.
This is a developing story.