911 calls of Learjet crash in Palm Beach released: ‘I think something fell from the sky'

Authorities have released the recordings of the panicked 911 calls people made after a jet carrying nine people nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood earlier this week and erupted into a giant fireball, killing everyone on board.

The plane crashed Sunday in Greenacres, about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site, and little remained of the plane.

"I think an airplane, a rocket, something fell from the sky," a caller told 911 in a recording NBC6 obtained on Friday. "We felt our house shake, and then we heard an explosion when we ran outside. We didn't see what the actual thing fall, but sparks came out, and there was a bunch of smoke.

The jet did a steep nosedive, leaving behind a crater and a wide debris field as rain pounded the area. 

Dashcam video shows the moment a jet crash and explode on a road in Palm Beach County Sunday. 

Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras can first be heard calmly telling air traffic control about ice buildup on the plane as it flew into a thunderstorm. Turbulence tossed it up and down by 700 feet, but the situation quickly escalated as the aircraft fell at breathtaking speed. “Declare an emergency 722-Bravo-Delta. We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute!” she said.

About 600 nearby residents were displaced, but only one injury was reported on the ground. A shelter was established for the residents of almost 80 mobile homes near the crash site.

"It is a really big explosion," a caller tells the dispatcher. "It's around the trailer homes that are built here."

The victims included 55-year-old pilot Jeff Gregory, 20-year-old co-pilot Filgueiras, who made the final radio transmissions, as well as technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, their two young children, the couple's friends, and the kids' nanny.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined what caused the crash, but the agency will publish a preliminary report describing the facts of what happened about 30 days after the crash. It won’t include analysis or cause, which will come in a later more detailed report.