Florida Learjet crash kills nine, including 20-year-old co-pilot

Nine people died when a privately owned Learjet 60 crashed and exploded on a multi-lane highway in Palm Beach County, Florida, on 1 November 2026. The aircraft was travelling from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. All seven passengers and two crew members were killed. One person on the ground suffered a minor injury.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether ice, turbulence or human factors contributed to the high-speed descent. The crash is the deadliest involving a Learjet 60. Approximately 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community were evacuated or displaced, and emergency shelters were opened.

Passengers included Texas technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. Also aboard were family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and the children's nanny Anita Maria Cetina. Robinson had founded companies including Robly, an email marketing platform, and Retention.com. Sharp worked in public relations and was a ceramics artist. A joint family statement described the parents as devoted and the children as the light of their lives.

The pilot in command was Jeff Gregory, 55, an experienced aviator. The co-pilot was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, of Boca Raton. She received her pilot's licence while still in high school and had logged more than 1,300 hours. Her mother and sister confirmed her identity. Gregory had worked briefly for East Coast Jets in 2016-2017. The aircraft was operated by a private charter company.

The plane nosedived into the roadway near Military Trail and Cresthaven Boulevard outside Greenacres. Witnesses described a large crater and scattered wreckage. The cockpit voice recorder was recovered. Families asked for privacy as they arrange memorials. The NTSB has not yet released a preliminary cause. The crash occurred during a period of heavy weather in the area.

Private aviation safety records show that while business jets generally have strong safety statistics, high-speed descents and weather-related events remain among the more serious accident types. The full investigation will examine the aircraft's maintenance history, crew experience on the type, weather at the time, and the sequence of events in the final minutes of the flight. Until the NTSB report is complete, the precise combination of factors remains open.