A Learjet 60 flying from Austin to the Bahamas crashed Sunday afternoon in a neighborhood near West Palm Beach, killing all nine people on board. The jet departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport as a private aircraft, according to the airport. The pilot reported ice and turbulence at 35,000 feet and declared an emergency before the plane went down, leaving a crater beside the road. No one on the ground was reported hurt, though about 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community were evacuated as a precaution.

The cockpit transmissions are drawing the most attention. The pilot radioed a descent of thousands of feet per minute and warned, “We’re going to crash into the ground.” Florida’s governor described the scene as a cataclysmic crash, and the FAA and NTSB have opened an investigation. Investigators planned a Monday briefing in West Palm Beach, where the focus will likely turn to weather conditions at altitude and what the jet encountered on its climb out of Texas.

For North Texans, the story lands close to home because of where the flight began. Austin-Bergstrom is a common departure point for private and charter travel, and plenty of local families have connections on both ends of that route. We’ll follow the investigation as details emerge. If you fly out of Austin or DFW, has this changed how you think about weather and private aviation? Let us know in the comments.