Nine people died when a private Learjet nosedived in Palm Beach County, Florida, on its way to the Bahamas.
The passengers have now been identified as Texas tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44, his wife Helen, and their two young children, according to sources close to the family who spoke. The couple’s children’s nanny and two close friends were also on board and died in the crash.
The Robinsons were traveling in a $2 million Learjet 60 that departed from Austin, Texas. The aircraft went down in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing everyone on board.
The pilot has been identified as Jeff Gregory, 55, an experienced aviator from Pennsylvania. The co-pilot was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, a Florida-based pilot who obtained her license while still in high school.
The identities of the Robinsons’ two young children, their two friends, and the children’s nanny have not yet been publicly released. Sources close to the family provided the names of Adam and Helen Robinson to the outlet.
Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot, had earned her pilot’s license during her high school years in Florida. Gregory, the 55-year-old pilot, brought experience from Pennsylvania to the flight deck.
The Learjet 60, valued at approximately $2 million, was en route from Austin to the Bahamas when it crashed. The Robinson family had boarded the private aircraft for what was intended to be a trip to the island destination.
The crash occurred in Palm Beach County, Florida, though the specific circumstances leading to the nosedive remain under investigation. All nine people on board the aircraft were killed.
Adam Robinson had built his wealth in the technology sector, becoming a multimillionaire entrepreneur based in Texas. He and his wife Helen were raising two young children together, who were also aboard the fatal flight.
The inclusion of the children’s nanny and two close friends suggests the trip may have been planned as a family vacation or group getaway. The presence of both parents, their children, and a caregiver indicated a family-oriented journey to the Bahamas.
Aviation authorities are expected to continue examining the wreckage and flight data to determine what caused the Learjet 60 to go down shortly after its departure from Austin. The National Transportation Safety Board typically leads investigations into fatal private aircraft crashes.
The deaths of the two pilots, Gregory and Filgueiras, add to the toll of aviation professionals lost in private aircraft incidents. Filgueiras’ early achievement of obtaining her pilot’s license while still in high school had marked her as a young aviator with promise.
Robinson’s success in the tech industry had afforded his family the means to travel via private jet, a convenience that ended in tragedy. The couple’s two friends who joined the flight have not been named, leaving portions of the passenger manifest still to be disclosed by investigators or family representatives.
The Palm Beach County crash adds to a series of fatal private aviation accidents that have drawn scrutiny to the safety of personal and corporate aircraft operations.
Funeral arrangements and memorial services for the Robinson family and other victims have not yet been announced.