Nine people died after a Learjet bound for the Bahamas crashed and then exploded in Palm Beach County, Florida, in the United States, on Sunday afternoon, officials reported.

The accident is the second deadliest in the United States this year, according to National Transportation Safety Board records, after the crash of a skydiving plane in June in Butler, Missouri, which left 12 dead.

Authorities have not identified the nine people aboard the aircraft nor specified how many passengers were and how many were crew.

«It looked like a missile falling,» Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said of the accident.

There are no reports that anyone on the ground died, but the accident did leave a wide area covered in debris, the governor indicated. Some 600 people need accommodation due to the accident, a county official reported.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who confirmed the deaths, described the accident as a «horrific tragedy.»

Sunday’s incident is the worst crash of a Learjet 60, according to data from the Flight Safety Foundation. In 2008, four people died when a Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed during takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina.

The aircraft was a Learjet 60 flying to the Bahamas from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It is registered in the name of a limited liability company in Delaware, according to FAA records, and appears online as available for charter flights.

NTSB investigators will arrive at the scene on Sunday and Monday. A press conference is also scheduled for Monday.

The accident occurred near Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported in a statement.

Minutes before the accident, the aircraft’s pilot reported ice accumulation on the aircraft, an outside temperature of -47 °C and moderate turbulence that was shaking the plane by up to 213 metres, according to a recording of air traffic control radio communications captured by LiveATC.net.

«We have a light layer of clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,» the pilot radioed to the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Centre.

But moments later, after reporting that precipitation had begun and requesting to climb, he declared an emergency.

«We are descending to 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we are descending 10,000 feet per minute,» the pilot said. «We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000 feet per minute… We are going to crash into the ground.»

The aircraft descended 27,000 feet over the course of a minute, just before flight tracking data was interrupted, according to the ADS-B Exchange website.

The pavement was deformed at the spot where the plane crashed and opened a crater, according to a video from WPBF, a CNN affiliate.

The crash site is about 6.4 kilometres south of West Palm Beach airport, which was renamed in honour of US President Donald Trump earlier this year. Trump was in West Palm Beach earlier on Sunday, but departed from the airport aboard Air Force One just over an hour before the accident.

(With information from CNN en Español)