Florida Learjet Crash Kills Tech Founder Adam Robinson and Family
Nine people died when a Learjet 60 traveling from Austin to the Bahamas crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida. The victims included tech entrepreneur Adam…
Tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, their children and five others died when a Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday. The plane was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, and investigators are examining whether ice and turbulence contributed.
The victims included Robinson, founder and chief executive of software companies Retention.com and RB2B; his wife, artist Helen Sharp; their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina; family friends Charmi Fehr and Rachael Reed; and pilots Jeff Gregory and Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. All nine people aboard died.
The crash also brought the investigation’s focus to the aircraft’s final moments. Authorities have not formally confirmed the cause.
Who were the victims of the Florida plane crash?
Robinson and Sharp were traveling with their children, nanny and two friends. Gregory, 55, was the pilot; Filgueiras, 20, was the co-pilot.
A joint statement from relatives described Robinson and Sharp as devoted parents and said Emma and Charlie were “the light of their lives.” The families also praised Fehr and Reed as people who were “full of joy and adventure,” while saying Cetina cared for the children with tenderness and devotion.
The statement offered a personal account of the losses behind the investigation. It said the families had been building a life together and described Cetina as part of the family.
Robinson founded Retention.com and RB2B. He had previously worked at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, according to his LinkedIn profile. Sharp was a ceramics artist who often shared her artwork and family life on social media.
Filgueiras earned her pilot’s license while still in high school. Her mother, Camila Corteleti, said her daughter loved flying. “She loved the freedom,” Corteleti said. “It was completely different seeing the world from the top.”
What are investigators examining?
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, with the Federal Aviation Administration sending a team to assist. The inquiry is examining whether ice and turbulence played a role, as well as whether human error contributed.
During the flight, a pilot radioed air traffic controllers about ice accumulation and severe turbulence. The aircraft was at 35,000 feet, and the turbulence jolted it by as much as 700 feet, according to audio and details reported about the flight. A pilot later made a mayday call as the jet descended at 20,000 feet per minute.
“We are going to crash into the ground,” an unidentified pilot said in the recording, later adding, “We’re out of time.”
The aircraft had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport bound for the Bahamas. It crashed in a residential area of Palm Beach County, leaving a crater beside a road. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the impact “cataclysmic” and said no injuries or deaths had been immediately reported on the ground.
Federal authorities have yet to formally establish what caused the jet to go down. The investigation is now focused on the weather conditions at altitude and the crew’s final communications, including the report of ice and severe turbulence.
