Authorities have identified the nine people killed when a private jet crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, while traveling from Texas to the Bahamas.
Among the victims was Adam Robinson, 44, founder and CEO of software companies Retention.com and RB2B. The $2 million Learjet 60 was flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it suddenly plunged toward the ground, according to reports citing sources close to the family.
The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport before descending sharply over Florida. Witnesses captured footage of the jet erupting into a massive fireball, leaving a smoking crater beside a road in a residential area.
Also killed were Robinson’s wife, Helen Sharp, a ceramics artist, and their two young children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. Their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and two family friends, Charmi Fehr and Rachael Reed, were also aboard.
In a joint statement posted on Facebook by a relative, the Robinson, Fehr and Cetina families remembered the victims as devoted parents, loving friends and people whose generosity touched many lives.
“Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives,” the families wrote.
They described the couple as deeply devoted to one another and said their warmth and generosity made others feel welcome. Fehr and Reed were remembered for their joy, adventurous spirit and strong friendships.
The statement also paid tribute to Cetina, who cared for the children with tenderness and devotion and was considered part of the family.
Before establishing his software businesses, Robinson worked at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, according to his LinkedIn profile. Sharp frequently shared her artwork and moments from family life on social media.
The aircraft was piloted by Jeff Gregory, 55, an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania. The co-pilot was identified as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, a Florida resident who earned her pilot’s license while still in high school.
Filgueiras had logged more than 1,300 flight hours. Her mother, Camila Corteleti, told The New York Times that her daughter received her private pilot’s license during her senior year of high school, meaning she was able to fly an aircraft before she learned to drive a car.
“She loved the freedom,” Corteleti said. “It was completely different seeing the world from the top.”
In a 2023 interview with CBS12, Filgueiras said: “I like being different than everyone.”
According to recorded air traffic communications, the Learjet was cruising east at 35,000 feet on Sunday afternoon when a pilot reported ice accumulation and severe turbulence that was jolting the aircraft by as much as 700 feet.
One of the pilots later issued a mayday call as the aircraft descended at approximately 20,000 feet per minute.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact in a residential area of Palm Beach County as “cataclysmic.”
“It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road,” DeSantis told reporters.
He added that no injuries or fatalities had immediately been reported on the ground.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the Federal Aviation Administration was sending a team to assist with the investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Federal authorities have not formally established the cause of the crash.
In the recording, an unidentified pilot can be heard saying: “We are going to crash into the ground.”
The pilot later added: “We’re out of time.”
