Texas family of 4 among 9 killed in horrific Florida plane crash
Florida plane crash: Texas family among 9 killed
New details in the deadly private jet crash that killed nine people in Florida have been released. The flight departed from Austin, and now we are learning the identities of those on board, including a family and their two young children.
AUSTIN - A family of four from Texas were among the nine people who were killed when a plane crashed in Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday.
TMZ reported that tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen, their two children and their nanny were on the plane. They were reportedly traveling with two friends. The captain and co-pilot were also killed.
Relatives of the members of the Texas group released this joint statement on Facebook on Monday:
"A joint statement from the families of Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, Emma and Charlie Robinson, Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Apellido Cetina:
"With broken hearts, our families share that Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Apellido Cetina were among those lost aboard the flight that went down near Greenacres, Florida, on November 1.
"Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives. Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever. Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and who they loved in return.
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"Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure. They loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation. From the moment they met, they were all in on each other and the life they were building. They are deeply loved, and we will miss them endlessly.
"Anita Maria cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion, and she was truly part of the family. She showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion.
"We are deeply grateful to the first responders, investigators, and the Palm Beach County community for their care, and to everyone who has reached out with love. Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us.
"We ask for privacy as we grieve. Details about memorial services will be shared once arrangements are made."
Adam Robinson was a graduate of Rice University in Houston. The school released the following statement Monday:
"Adam Robinson graduated from Rice University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, Spanish and managerial studies. He was a member of Jones College, one of Rice’s residential colleges, and earned two varsity letters as a member of the men’s basketball team during the 2000 and 2001 seasons."
Photos of Adam Robinson playing for the Rice Owls varsity basketball team (Rice Athletics)
Who was on the plane that crashed in Florida?
The captain was identified by TMZ as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory.
His co-pilot was 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha, who earned her pilot’s license while still in high school. She was identified by her family, according to reports.
Gadelha began flight lessons in 2020 under the guidance of her father and earned her private pilot’s license at age 17 while attending West Boca Raton High School. Her training was funded through the school district’s Aviation Academy, and she later graduated from the American Flyers flight school as she pursued a career as a commercial airline pilot.
In a 2023 interview, Gadelha revealed she had already logged 88 hours in the air and had gone on to earn multiple aviation qualifications alongside her boyfriend before turning 21.
Florida plane crash
Timeline:
Federal investigators are probing an in-flight breakup of a plane carrying nine people that crashed Sunday afternoon, scattering debris across a 1.2-mile area of Palm Beach County.
The flight departed Austin, Texas, for the Bahamas at 10:37 a.m. At 12:47 p.m., the crew reported icing and turbulence before requesting a climb to 55,000 feet. Less than 30 seconds later, the aircraft entered a rapid descent and issued a Mayday call.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Timothy Monville said preliminary evidence indicates the plane broke up before impact, with icing under investigation as a factor.
The crash forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents from 77 nearby mobile homes and injured a man on the ground. Mayor Sara Baxter declared a county emergency.
The NTSB urges witnesses with photos or video to email witness@ntsb.gov and cautions the public not to disturb debris.
Chilling air traffic control audio captured the final moments before the plane slammed into the ground near Military Trail, erupting into a massive fireball upon impact. All nine people aboard were killed.
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Final audio from deadly Florida Learjet disaster: 'We're gonna crash'
Nine people are dead after a private jet crashed in a residential Florida area on Sunday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The audio between the pilot and air traffic control details the flight’s final moments.
Aviation attorney speaks about crash
Local perspective:
"That plane, which I've been in numerous times, at that speed, at that altitude cannot go right into a red zone," says Robert Clifford, an aviation attorney.
According to flight tracking data, the Learjet 60 flew into a storm cell in the moments leading up to the crash.
"I’ve got to assume they really didn’t know what they were going into. I can’t imagine any pilot deliberately flying into a red zone, but that appears to be what happened here," says Clifford. "It’s widely known in the industry that there are, you know, issues with the wing performance in certain weather conditions."
Clifford describes the communication between pilots and air traffic control as a "team effort," when it comes to decision-making on storm cells, and claims it will be a part of the NTSB's investigation as to why that choice was made.
At Monday’s press conference, NTSB officials reported that early maintenance records indicate that a cockpit voice recorder was installed on the aircraft, but it’s unknown if that recorder was still on board as "sometimes these things change over time," according to Tom Chapman, an NTSB board member. If they are able to recover it, he says it will hold crucial data related to the crash.
This comes as the NTSB continues to comb through the area of the crash site, where a massive crater was left behind after the impact. Although the NTSB hasn't released how fast the aircraft was going at the time of the crash, Clifford has formed his own estimate on the aircraft's speed.
"I'm lead counsel for all the families in the Boeing ET-402 case. That plane hit the ground at 600 miles an hour in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019. This is going faster than that, so in excess of 600 miles an hour," Clifford added.
What's next:
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.
Official identities for the remaining victims have not yet been released by authorities.
The Source: Information in this article is from the FAA, TMZ, the NTSB, and previous reporting.