A married couple and their two toddlers were among the nine people killed in Sunday’s Learjet 60 crash in Palm Beach County, with their identities confirmed by family members.
The victims of the Learjet 60 crash in Palm Beach County, Florida, have been identified as a Texas family of four, their nanny, two close friends and two pilots, according to a report by TMZ. All nine people aboard the private jet were killed when it plunged into a residential area on Sunday, November 1.
The family included 44-year-old Austin-based tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children. According to sources close to the family cited by TMZ, the Robinsons were traveling with their nanny and two close friends when the aircraft crashed.
Robinson was an entrepreneur who founded the technology company Retention and regularly spoke about building successful start-ups. According to his online profile, he had previously spent 10 years working on Wall Street before launching an artificial intelligence start-up called GetEmail.
His wife, Helen, ran a communications firm named Influential PR and also owned Helen Sharp Ceramics, an Aspen-based pottery studio. The couple lived in Austin, Texas, with their two children.
The Palm Beach Post had earlier spoken to the father of one of the victims, who confirmed that his daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren were aboard the aircraft. “It’s quite a blow. We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane,” he told the newspaper.
Who Were The Two Pilots Killed In The Florida Learjet Crash?
The two pilots aboard the aircraft were identified as 55-year-old captain Jeff Gregory and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.
Filgueiras’ family confirmed her identity following the crash. She earned her private pilot’s license at just 17, before graduating from high school, and had accumulated more than 1,300 hours of flying experience.
She was working for a charter firm based in Fort Lauderdale and aspired to become a commercial airline pilot.
In a 2023 interview with CBS affiliate WPEC, she spoke about earning her pilot’s license before obtaining her driver’s license.
“I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah but I can fly,'” she said.
The Learjet had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.
Learjet Appeared To Break Apart Before Impact, NTSB Says
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator Tom Chapman said preliminary findings indicated that parts of the business jet may have broken off before it crashed into the ground in Greenacres, southwest of West Palm Beach. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Chapman said investigators had indications that the aircraft was breaking apart before impact and expected to find debris some distance away from the crash site.
“We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” Chapman said. “We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site.”
Videos recorded by passersby captured the aircraft plunging from the sky before hitting the ground and erupting into a massive fireball. The crash left a crater surrounded by burning debris and sent thick black smoke into the air.