Crash in Florida Leaves 600 Residents Displaced, NTSB Investigates

More than 600 people in the Greenacres area are living without electricity or heat after a business jet crashed into their neighborhood. The aircraft was en route from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it struck the ground on Sunday afternoon. Only one person on the ground sustained an injury, but the impact scattered debris across a wide area and left many homes in the dark.

The plane was a Learjet 60 operated by Upper Jets. It carried nine people, all of whom died. Among the victims were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children. The jet hit the ground with enough force to create a crater before catching fire. Investigators noted that the horizontal stabilizer was missing from the tail in images taken just before impact.

The crash occurred roughly seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach. A federal investigator stated Monday that parts of the aircraft likely began to break off before it struck the earth. The co-pilot, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, told air traffic controllers that ice was building up on the plane. She reported that severe turbulence had thrown the jet up and down by more than 700 feet. Her final transmission included the words, “We’re going to die!”

A man’s voice reciting the Lord’s Prayer was heard in the background of those radio transmissions. Friends identified the pilot as Jeff Gregory, a 55-year-old resident of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. He was a longtime aviator who held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates. Gregory had previously worked for a charter company in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and for East Coast Jets, Inc., in 2016 and 2017.

Thomas Noetzel, the director of operations at Upper Jets, set up an online fundraiser for Gregory’s wife and children. Noetzel described Gregory as a close friend and a devoted man with a genuine passion for flying. Walter Noetzel, Thomas’s father, posted on Facebook that he believed Gregory is now flying peacefully in the presence of their Lord. April Honnen, the director of charter sales for East Coast Jets, Inc., said the company was deeply saddened by the loss.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation. Member Tom Chapman said weather will be a key focus. A preliminary report describing the events is expected in about a month. However, determining the final cause of the crash will likely take more than a year.

The flight departed Austin on Sunday. The plane encountered bad weather before the crash. The crash site is in Greenacres, a residential area near West Palm Beach. The debris field covered a large portion of the neighborhood.