Video taking off 71x its usual first day

Learjet was out of control before Florida crash, TODAY analyst says

NBC's Jeff Guzzetti distinguishes the fatal descent from an emergency landing attempt, while Tom Costello examines weather and recorder-recovery questions.

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TODAY Story of November 3, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 570,001 views a day, 71 times a normal first day on this channel (8,040).

Learjet Crashes Near West Palm Beach, Killing All 9 Onboard

Things we can learn from the video

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0:17Radio recordings capture reports of icing and turbulence, followed by a Mayday call and an overspeed warning.
0:41The report identifies the aircraft as a Learjet 60 traveling from Austin to the Bahamas.
1:16Jeff Guzzetti says the footage shows an aircraft out of control, rather than attempting an emergency landing.
1:57Tom Costello examines thunderstorms, icing and the steep descent as possible factors for investigators to assess.
3:22Costello discusses the aircraft type and whether cockpit voice or flight data recorders might be recovered.

The pilot reported icing and moderate turbulence before declaring an emergency and warning of an overspeed condition. Those radio calls form part of TODAY's report on the Learjet crash near West Palm Beach that killed all nine people aboard.

NBC News aviation analyst Jeff Guzzetti draws a distinction between an attempted emergency landing and what the crash footage shows. "That airplane was completely out of control. This was not an attempt to get an emergency landing," he says.

The private jet was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. Jesse Kirsch reports from West Palm Beach, where residents of a nearby mobile home community were evacuated. The segment includes footage of the impact and distressing air traffic control audio; TODAY warns viewers about both.

The report has reached roughly 447,000 views before its first full day, far beyond the program's usual audience for a regular upload. A separate short report featuring Costello's analysis also drew an unusually large early audience.

Costello examines thunderstorms, severe icing and the aircraft's steep descent as questions for investigators, not established explanations for the crash. He also considers whether cockpit voice and flight data recorders might be recovered, a potential source of evidence about what happened aboard the Learjet.

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