Florida Private Jet Crash Claims Lives of Nine, Including Tech CEO and Family
The identities of all nine people killed in a private jet crash in Palm Beach County, Florida, were officially confirmed on Monday, following a catastrophic accident that claimed the lives of a Texas tech executive, his wife, their two young children, their nanny, two family friends, and two pilots.
The $2 million Learjet 60 nosedived on Sunday afternoon while traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. The aircraft departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport before experiencing severe trouble aloft, ultimately plunging sharply in Florida and leaving a smoking crater beside a roadway after witnesses recorded footage of the plane erupting into a massive fireball.
Among the victims was Adam Robinson, 44, the founder and chief executive of software companies Retention.com and RB2B. Before launching his software ventures, Robinson worked at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, according to his professional background. Also killed in the crash were his wife, Helen Sharp, a ceramics artist who frequently documented her artwork and family life online, and the couple’s two young children, four-year-old Emma and two-year-old Charlie.
Three other passengers perished alongside the family: family nanny Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and two family friends, Charmi Fehr and Rachael Reed.
In a joint statement posted to Facebook by relative Anthony Robinson, the families mourned the victims. “Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma and Charlie were the light of their lives,” the statement read. “Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever. Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives.”
The statement also paid tribute to the friends and caregiver. “Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure. They loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation. From the moment they met, they were all in on each other and the life they were building. Anita Maria cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion, and she was truly family. She showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion.”
The flight was operated by a two-person crew consisting of 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania, and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, a Florida resident who earned her private pilot’s license while still in high school.
Filgueiras had logged more than 1,300 flight hours after securing her license before she learned to drive a car. Her mother, Camila Corteleti, recalled her daughter’s passion for aviation. “She loved the freedom,” Corteleti said. “It was completely different seeing the world from the top.” In a 2023 broadcast interview with CBS12, Filgueiras noted of her career path, “I like being different than everyone.”
Flight data and radio transmissions revealed the final moments of the aircraft. Cruising east at 35,000 feet on Sunday afternoon, one of the pilots contacted air traffic controllers to report severe ice accumulation and heavy turbulence that jolted the jet by as much as 700 feet. Audio recordings captured a mayday distress call as the aircraft descended at a staggering 20,000 feet per minute.
“We are going to crash into the ground,” an unidentified pilot transmitted on the recording, adding moments later, “We’re out of time.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact site 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, adding that no injuries or fatalities were immediately reported on the ground.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the Federal Aviation Administration deployed a team to assist investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board. Federal authorities have not yet formally established the definitive cause of the crash as the investigation continues.
