FLORIDA FAMILIES IDENTIFY SEVEN PASSENGERS KILLED IN LEARJET CRASH NEAR WEST PALM BEACH
Families of the passengers aboard the Learjet 60 that crashed and exploded near Greenacres, Florida, on November 1 released a joint statement identifying their loved ones. The private jet was en route from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it plunged into a highway in stormy weather, killing all nine people on board.
The statement named Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina as the passengers lost. Robinson was a Texas tech entrepreneur. The families described Robinson and Sharp as devoted parents whose children were “the light of their lives,” and said the couple’s “warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives.”
Reed and Fehr were remembered as “full of joy and adventure” who “loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation.” Cetina, the children’s caregiver, “cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion” and was “truly part of the family.”
The families expressed gratitude to first responders and the Palm Beach County community, and extended condolences to the pilots’ families. They asked for privacy as they grieve and said memorial details will be shared later.
Authorities identified the pilot as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory and the co-pilot as 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, with ice buildup and turbulence under review after the crew reported weather issues shortly before the plane nosedived and struck the roadway.