A business tycoon, his ceramicist wife, their two young children, nanny and friends have been identified as the passengers killed in a private jet crash.
Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife Helen Sharp, 40, were aboard the jet alongside their two toddlers when it crashed near West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
The family of four was traveling from their home in Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas with their nanny and two friends, who have not been identified.
TMZ named the captain of the plane as Jeff Gregory, 55, with co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, identified as his co-pilot earlier this morning.
Robinson was an entrepreneur who set up tech company Retention and who regularly gave interviews about how to create a successful start-up.
Helen ran a communications firm called Influential PR. She also owned a successful, Aspen-based pottery studio called Helen Sharp Ceramics.
The Palm Beach Post reported earlier on Monday that they had spoken with one of the victim’s fathers who said: ‘It’s quite a blow. We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane.’
According to an online profile for Robinson, he previously worked on Wall Street for 10 years before launching an AI startup named GetEmail.
The Learjet 60 nose-dived into an intersection in disturbing dash cam footage before bursting into flames.
Audio also captured Filguerias, the co-pilot of the aircraft, screaming in a final call to air traffic control, while the pilot next to her could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer as they fell to the ground.
At a press conference on Monday, officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they believe severe weather was a ‘significant factor’ to the disaster and that part of the jet appeared to have broken off before the crash.
Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their two young children are pictured. They were all killed in a private jet crash on Sunday
Adam Robinson, seen here, and his wife Helen Sharp, 40, were identified by TMZ as being aboard the jet alongside their two toddlers
Robinson and his wife Helen Sharp are pictured left and second from left attending a friend’s wedding
Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp are pictured enjoying a vacation in an undated photo
The couple are seen on their wedding day in a photo shared to Instagram
The Learjet 60 nose-dived into an intersection in disturbing dash cam footage before bursting into flames
After slamming to the ground a fireball erupted
Officials said the pilots requested to gain 2,000 feet of elevation when they encountered a thunderstorm, moments before the aircraft was sent spiraling to the ground.
Some aviation experts have speculated that the plane may have hit what pilots call ‘coffin corner’ when trying to climb above two storm systems.
The term is used to describe the very narrow gap between safe minimum speeds and safe maximum speeds while at high altitude. If a pilot goes too slow or too fast, they can easily stall the plane or lose control of it.
Filgueiras grew up in Palm Beach County and had a passion for aviation, and she was previously featured in a local media report after first getting her pilot license in 2023 at the age of 17.
She told CBS12 that she ‘bragged’ about the achievement to her friends, because they would say to her, ”Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly.”
Her mother Camila often shared images of Filgueiras and her siblings traveling on private jets, with her father Allan also having his pilot’s license.
Camila told The New York Times: ‘She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top.’
The man, who has not been identified, could be heard saying ‘who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name’ in air traffic control audio released in the wake of Sunday’s crash in West Palm Beach, Florida.
While the man prayed, Filgueiras could be heard saying that the Learjet 60 had banked 60 degrees, meaning it was flying sideways.
Officials said they are investigating stormy weather and ice buildup on the aircraft as possible causes of the crash, which happened as the $2 million business jet was flying from Austin, Texas to the Bahamas.
Filgueiras had a passion for aviation, and she was previously featured in a local media report after first getting her pilot license in 2023 when she was 17
The impact left a massive crater in the middle of the road, damaging nearby infrastructure
NTSB member Tom Chapman said during a news conference Monday that the aircraft appeared to start breaking up before it made impact and that he expects parts of the plane will be found far away.
‘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.’
The Bahamas-bound jet began its journey at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Airport spokesperson Jim Reynolds described it as a private aircraft.
The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet when the pilot onboard started to report problems.
The air traffic controllers in nearby Miami had given pilots permission to ‘deviate left and right’ due to ‘moderate precipitation… to the southeast’ that they described as ‘pretty nasty’ as the twin-engine business jet approached the area.
The controllers were then heard describing ‘moderate turbulence’ before Filgueiras’s tone swiftly became panicked as she realized the plane was in trouble.
The crater and debris field are seen here at the scene of the impact on Monday
She said: ‘Seven two two bravo delta, we’re descending 8,000… mayday mayday… we’re descending 10,000ft per minute.’
Seconds later, she screamed: ‘Declaring emergency, declaring emergency, we are in an overspeed condition.’
Her voice grew even more panicked as she said: ‘Descending 20,000ft per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground.’
‘I’m here with you, talk to me,’ the air traffic controller said in an attempt to calm the situation.
Filgueiras said: ‘We are descending 22,000ft, and we are banking 60 degrees.’ ‘We’re out of time,’ Filgueiras then screamed in her final transmission.
The Daily Mail has chosen not to publish the final seconds of audio which are extremely distressing.
Weather conditions in the West Palm Beach area on Sunday afternoon were poor, overcast with rain and lightning in the area and winds from the east at 15 mph, gusting to near 25mph. The National Weather Service in Miami said visibility was seven miles.
