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Texas Family Among Nine Killed in Florida Private Jet Crash



A flight from Texas to the Bahamas ended in tragedy on Sunday when a Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard.

Entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, and their children, four-year-old Emma and two-year-old Charlie, were among the victims. A family statement identified the children’s nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr as the other passengers, according to The Guardian.

The aircraft had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was traveling to the Bahamas when it encountered difficulties at altitude. It subsequently crashed near Greenacres and caught fire.

News reports identified the flight crew as pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, from Pennsylvania, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20. Filgueiras’s family confirmed that she was working aboard the aircraft. She had earned her private pilot’s license at 17 while still in high school.

Federal investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the crash. Reports of the crew’s radio communications describe icing and turbulence before the aircraft began a rapid descent. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating; the cause has not yet been established.