Florida Authorities identify 9 victims of Learjet crash, including 20-year-old co-pilot

 

Authorities have identified the nine victims aboard the Learjet that plummeted to the ground and erupted into a fireball in Palm Beach County, Florida, including a family with young children and a 20-year-old co-pilot.

The twin-engine Learjet 60 took off from Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). LiveATC.net radio recordings show that minutes before crashing, the pilot reported ice buildup, an outside temperature of -47°C and moderate turbulence with altitude swings up to 700 feet.

The aircraft then plunged from 35,250 feet to 8,750 feet in just over a minute — about 350 feet per second — before slamming nose-first into the ground, killing all nine people aboard and leaving a massive crater near a shopping center in Palm Beach.

Authorities have not revealed what caused the crash, though the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that weather conditions are the primary focus of the investigation as South Florida was hit by widespread thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, reduced visibility and moderate turbulence on Sunday before the incident.

 

Among the nine victims aboard the 22-year-old twin-engine Learjet 60 was 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.

According to her family, Filgueiras earned her pilot’s license at just 17-years-old while attending West Boca Raton High School in Palm Beach County. Filgueiras aspired to become a commercial airline pilot and graduated from American Flyers, an Addison, Texas-based flight school with a branch in Pompano Beach.

Also aboard the $2 million aircraft were tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their two young children, Emma and Charlie. The family’s nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr were also among those on board. 

The captain of the jet was identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania.

In a joint statement released Monday from the Robinson, Fehr and Cetina families on Monday, the grieving relatives of the victims said that Adam and Helen were “devoted parents” and Charmi and Rachael “were full of joy and adventure.”

“With broken hearts, our families share that Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina were among those lost aboard the flight that went down near Greenacres, Florida, on November 1,” the families wrote.

 

“Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives. Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,” they continued. “Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and who they loved in return.”

“Charmi and Rachael 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. They are deeply loved, and we will miss them endlessly,” the families said.

“Anita Maria cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion, and she was truly part of the family. She showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion,” the statement added. “Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us. We ask for privacy as we grieve.” 

Meanwhile, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman addressed the growing backlash directed at the young female co-pilot following the tragic incident. Online criticism has increasingly centered blame on Filgueiras even as investigators have noted that severe weather was reported in the area and official sources have not determined human error to be a contributing factor.  

Isaacman urged for an end to the public hostility, calling for respect toward the victims’ families as they navigate their grief.

“Writing this in my personal capacity, but I have been flying these types of aircraft for more than 20 years, with over 8,000 hours, and have reasonable familiarity with how the charter world operates,” Isacman wrote. “I feel compelled to post after seeing commentary about the Lear 60 crash, from missile strikes to DEI to critiquing this poor woman’s final radio calls. That last part is what I find most troubling. She was the second-in-command (SIC), and while she was empowered to point out mistakes as part of good crew resource management, she was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation. She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die.”

The NASA administrator added that he has heard final calls from his own friends, sharing that the messages were “heartbreaking.”

“I understand the public interest given the footage and audio. But you do not know the aircraft’s maintenance history, whether there was a structural failure, if any failure was induced by turbulence, overspeed, or overcontrol, or everything happening in that cockpit,” Isaacman continued. “I am sure weather will be part of the investigation, but beyond that, it is speculation.”

He pointed out that charter companies frequently hire new commercial pilots to gain experience co-piloting alongside an ATP-rated captain before moving on to major airlines. Therefore, she would still possess the required training, qualifications and formal checkouts from an FAA examiner or authorized designee.

“Let people investigate, learn, and share the facts. Be respectful to those who perished and the families who carry their memories. God bless them and their loved ones,” the statement concluded.