A plane crash in southern Florida, United States, has killed nine people after a Learjet 60 plunged into a residential neighbourhood near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday.

The aircraft, which departed from Austin, Texas, was travelling to the Bahamas when it crashed in Palm Beach County, according to US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

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Duffy confirmed the deaths in a statement, describing the incident as a horrific tragedy.

The crash occurred near Cresthaven, a residential neighbourhood less than seven miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home.

Videos circulating on social media, although not independently verified in the report, appeared to show the aircraft descending almost vertically before striking the ground and producing a massive fireball.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the incident as a catastrophic aviation disaster while speaking to reporters near the crash site.

He said the aircraft appeared to have descended like a missile and added that there were no immediate reports of injuries among people on the ground.

The aircraft came down near the entrance to a mobile home park, prompting authorities to evacuate approximately 600 residents and relocate them to nearby shelters.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores confirmed the evacuation, as emergency responders continued operations around the crash site.

The incident occurred roughly an hour after Trump departed from the nearby President Donald J. Trump International Airport aboard Air Force One at 11:55 am local time.

The President had been at Mar-a-Lago earlier on Sunday before leaving the area.

An audio recording shared on the LiveATC.net air traffic monitoring platform reportedly captured the aircraft’s final communications with air traffic controllers.

A person in the cockpit was heard reporting moderate turbulence and saying the crew was managing ice accumulation on the aircraft.

The pilot also indicated that the plane was picking up precipitation and needed to climb.

Moments later, the cockpit issued a distress call, reporting a rapid descent of 10,000 feet per minute before declaring an emergency.

The recording subsequently captured the chilling statement: “We’re going to crash into the ground”, shortly before communication with the aircraft stopped.

Storms had reportedly been recorded in the area around the time of the incident, although the precise circumstances leading to the crash had not been established.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are expected to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disaster.

Investigators will examine the aircraft’s final flight communications, weather conditions and other available evidence to establish what caused the Learjet 60 to lose control and crash.

Authorities had yet to announce an official cause of the accident as of the time of the report.