'Important pieces' of its tail broke off the Learjet before it plunged into a Florida road, killing nine, investigators say
Dashcam footage of the Learjet 60's impact near West Palm Beach, as Transport Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash "a horrific tragedy.Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras (left), the co-pilot, pictured with pilot Jeff Gregory, whose final recorded words were the Lord's Prayer as the Learjet plunged towards the ground.Anita Maria Cetina (left), and Rachel Reed and Charmi Fehr, three of the nine people killed when the Learjet 60 plunged into a Palm Beach County road at up to 32,000 feet per minute.Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their children Emma and Charlie, who were among the nine killed; the crew had reported light icing and requested clearance to climb to 37,000 feet before issuing a mayday call less than 30 seconds later.Aerial footage of crash devastation on Military Trail, Palm Beach, Florida, where investigators warn that recovering wreckage from the water-filled impact crater is the biggest obstacle to establishing whether the black box recorder was even on board.The crash left a crater in Military Trail, igniting a utility pole and scattering burning debris feet from passing cars and nearby homes in Greenacres, Palm Beach County.
Investigators have concluded that critical components of the Learjet 60's tail detached before the aircraft hit the ground on Sunday, suggesting the jet broke apart mid-flight after encountering a severe thunderstorm at 35,000 feet. The $2 million aircraft shed more than 25,000 feet of altitude in approximately one minute, killing tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen, their four-year-old daughter Emma, their two-year-old son Charlie, nanny Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, friends Charmi Fehr and Rachael Reed, pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras.
Filgueiras texted her pilot boyfriend just ten minutes before the crash: 'I've got turbulence, I've got ice.'
Aviation experts say the pilots flew straight into the storm despite air traffic control having offered them an option to route around it — a pattern experts call 'get-there-itis.'
NASA chief Jared Isaacman, an 8,000-hour pilot, publicly defended Filgueiras against online conspiracy theories blaming DEI and her age for the disaster.
