The authorities and the families of the deceased have completed the identification of the nine people who died on Sunday when a Learjet 60 crashed onto a street in Palm Beach County, Florida, marking one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the state in recent years.
The plane had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, heading to the Bahamas, when the crew reported ice and turbulence at 35,000 feet. Less than thirty seconds after requesting to climb to 37,000 feet, it signaled an emergency, and the aircraft entered a catastrophic descent recorded by tracking data at over 32,000 feet per minute.
Among the passengers was a complete family: Adam Robinson, 45, a tech entrepreneur from Texas and founder of the platforms RB2B and Retention, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, a ceramicist and founder of a public relations agency who met Robinson in Buenos Aires, and their two young children, Emma, four years old, and Charlie, two. A joint statement from the families described them as "dedicated parents" whose love story "will last forever."
Also lost their lives were Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, a couple traveling with the Robinson family, who were remembered by their loved ones as people "full of joy and adventurous spirit" who "loved their own with intensity, fully and without hesitation." The seventh passenger was Anita Maria Cetina, who worked as a caregiver for the children and was considered, according to the family statement, "truly a part of the family."
The crew consisted of captain Jeff Gregory, 55 years old, residing in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20 years old. According to East Coast Jets, a company based in Allentown, Gregory worked briefly for that company in 2016 and 2017. "We are deeply saddened to know that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives," stated a company spokesperson.
The profile of Filgueiras has particularly moved public opinion. The young woman, from a Brazilian family born in Florida, obtained her pilot license at the age of 17, even before having a driver's license, thanks to the Aviation Academy program of the Palm Beach County School District. She graduated from American Flyers and accumulated over 1,300 flight hours in her short career. Her mother, Camila Gadelha Corteleti, told CNN Brasil: "She was a very good girl: responsible and hardworking. She was the co-pilot and couldn't make any decisions."
The investigation is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is analyzing indications that the plane may have begun to fragment in mid-air before crashing to the ground. The debris field extended approximately half a mile, supporting that hypothesis.
The latest communications from the crew with Miami air traffic control included phrases such as "We are descending 10,000 feet per minute" and "We are in a state of overspeed, descending 20,000 feet per minute," before the last phrase was heard: "We've run out of time!". The official cause of the accident has not been determined, and the NTSB continues to investigate whether ice, turbulence, a mechanical failure, or a combination of factors triggered the tragedy.
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