The final radio transmissions from Learjet 60 N722BD captured a rapid escalation from a routine weather report to catastrophe in less than two minutes. At approximately 12:47 p.m. Eastern on November 1, while flying eastbound near 35,000 feet over Palm Beach County, the crew reported light clear ice they described as manageable, moderate turbulence with alтιтude deviations of several hundred feet, precipitation, and an outside air temperature of roughly minus 47 degrees Celsius. They requested and received clearance to climb to 37,000 feet.

Within roughly 30 seconds the situation changed. First officer Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras declared a mayday, reporting that the aircraft was descending at 8,000 then 10,000 feet per minute. She next stated that the jet was in an overspeed condition and descending at 20,000 feet per minute, adding that they were going to 𝔠r𝘢sh into the ground. Subsequent transmissions indicated the descent rate had reached 22,000 feet per minute while the aircraft was banking steeply. The final recorded transmission, approximately 35 seconds after the initial mayday, was the short phrase “We’re out of time.”

Flight-tracking data later confirmed the extreme nature of the plunge. The aircraft dropped from about 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in little more than a minute, with momentary descent rates later estimated above 30,000 feet per minute. The jet struck the ground near Military Trail between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North shortly before 12:50 p.m., creating a large crater and fireball. All nine people on board were killed.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have recovered most of the left elevator in three pieces between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the impact site, confirming structural separation occurred in flight. Whether the loss of the elevator initiated the dive or was caused by the extreme aerodynamic forces remains under investigation. Weather, including the icing and turbulence reported by the crew, is a central focus of the ongoing inquiry.