Nine killed including tech tycoon family in Florida highway Learjet crash
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Nine people were killed when a private Learjet 60 crashed and exploded on a multi-lane highway in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday, authorities said. The aircraft was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it nosedived onto the highway, triggering a massive explosion that scattered debris across nearly half a mile.
The victims included Texas tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children, aged four and two. Robinson, the founder and CEO of RB2B and Retention.com, had previously worked with Lehman Brothers and Barclays. Also killed were three other passengers — Rachel Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina — and the two pilots, identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras.
According to family and media reports, Filgueiras sent a text message to her boyfriend, also a pilot, around 12:40 pm stating she had "turbulence, I've got ice." The crash occurred at approximately 12:50 pm. Witnesses at the scene described a gruesome site with body parts visible and debris scattered over a wide area. Several residents living near the crash site were evacuated overnight.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the accident. Investigators are examining whether ice accumulation, turbulence or human error contributed to the aircraft going down. Filgueiras obtained her private pilot's licence at age 17 in October 2023 and had accumulated around 1,300 hours of flying experience.
The Learjet 60 had departed Austin, Texas, on Sunday morning. All nine people aboard were killed. The NTSB said the investigation is ongoing as it works to determine the precise circumstances that led to the crash.
