Passengers in deadly Florida plane crash identified as family of 4, including 2 young children, their caretaker and another couple

The families of the seven passengers who were aboard a Bahamas-bound Learjet that crashed in Palm Beach County, Fla., on Nov. 1 identified their loved ones on social media.

"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 Cetina were among those lost aboard the flight that went down near Greenacres, Florida, on November 1," the statement said.

A tribute to Sharp and her family was posted on her Instagram page, saying, "On behalf of friends and family, it is with a heavy heart that we share that our dearest Helen was taken from us too soon. If you knew Helen, you knew how full of life she was. She simply radiated."

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Authorities had still not publicly confirmed the identities of those on board the plane at a news conference on Nov. 2, during which they said weather conditions were a major factor in the federal investigation into the fatal crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board told reporters on Nov. 2 that ice was forming on the jet as it experienced moderate turbulence. Miami air traffic control granted the pilot permission to climb from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet to avoid precipitation, but shortly afterward, an emergency was declared with a mayday call.

Air traffic control audio posted on LiveATC captured the crew's comments leading up to the crash. Someone in the cockpit can be heard saying "Mayday, mayday," reporting the plane was descending at 10,000 feet per minute, Reuters reported. "We're going to crash into the ground," the person said.

The Learjet 60, which had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, went down at about 12:50 p.m. ET near Cresthaven, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. 

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The NTSB said all nine people on board were killed, including two crew members and seven passengers. Along with the passengers' families, Camila Corteleti identified her 20-year-old daughter, Nathalia Filgueiras, as one of the pilots of the private jet that crashed Nov. 1, the New York Times reported.

The NTSB said it's unclear if Filgueiras was at the controls at the time of the crash.

A man who was leaving the area of the crash on Nov. 1 sustained a leg injury, officials said.

Dashcam footage posted to social media by an eyewitness showed the aircraft falling toward the ground beside a road and exploding into a fireball, narrowly missing cars and homes. 

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The impact left a "massive crater" near the entrance to a mobile home park, Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said at a news conference. About 600 residents were evacuated to two shelters, he said.

"We have a lot of work to do on scene — this will be a several-day process," NTSB senior investigator Timothy Monville said during Nov. 2's news conference. "The biggest obstacle we're going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway." Investigations are also hampered because the crash-site crater is partially filled with water.

The NTSB said it will interview witnesses to the accident as part of its investigation and encouraged anyone with relevant information, videos or audio to contact the NTSB by email at witness@ntsb.gov.

Some evidence indicates that parts of the plane broke off before the private jet crashed, according to NTSB member Tom Chapman. "I want to note that if any members of the community find debris, please do not move it," he said. "Contact us or local authorities, and we will respond appropriately."

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He also told reporters that, according to records, a cockpit voice recorder was installed, but the NTSB doesn't know whether it was still on board. "Sometimes these things change over time," Chapman said. "Of course we're very hopeful that we can recover it. Too early to know, but that will be very important data."

What we know about the victims

Among the victims was the copilot of the private jet, Filgueiras. Her mother said she earned her pilot's license at age 17. The 20-year-old had logged more than 1,300 hours of flight time and was working for a private charter firm based in Fort Lauderdale, according to her mother.

The pilot was Jeff Gregory, the BBC reported, citing Gregory's former employer.

"We are deeply saddened to learn that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives in yesterday's tragic aviation accident in Palm Beach," a spokesperson for private charter company East Coast Jets said in a statement on Nov. 2.

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According to the Palm Beach Post, the crash killed Helen Sharp, 40, her husband, Adam Robinson, 45, and their two young children. Sharp's father, 70-year-old Dudley Sharp, confirmed the deaths to the outlet.

"It's quite a blow," he told the Palm Beach Post. "We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane."

Family members of the seven passengers killed in the Nov. 1 crash released a joint statement on Facebook that also identifies the other three passengers: Anita Maria Cetina, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.

"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 Cetina were among those lost aboard the flight that went down near Greenacres, Florida, on November 1," the statement said. "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."

"Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure," the statement continued. "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."

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The families also thanked first responders, investigators and the Palm Beach community for "their care," as well as "everyone who reached out with love." They added: "Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us."

Robinson was a tech entrepreneur from Austin, according to his LinkedIn page. He described himself as the founder and CEO for RB2B and Retention.com.

A fellow tech entrepreneur, Jesse Ouellette, shared a tribute on LinkedIn, saying Robinson had helped him when he was building his company. "He became a friend and someone I saw eye to eye with on how to build software companies," said Ouellette. "He could disagree with you about almost anything, and somehow you'd walk away liking him even more."

Robinson last posted on LinkedIn on the day of his death, promoting a debate he and Ouellette had scheduled for Nov. 3.

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Sharp was a sculptural ceramic artist, according to her Instagram account. A tribute posted on her page said she founded a PR company, Influential PR. The pair, according to the same post, met while Sharp was living abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

What we know

The Learjet 60 took off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA records list the owner as a Delaware corporation.

The National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect for the crash area, Palm Beach County, through Nov. 2, with rain expected on and off across South Florida.

In air traffic control audio posted on LiveATC, someone in the cockpit said they were "managing the ice" but faced "moderate" turbulence and were seeking "better rides." The Associated Press reported the crew also asked to climb.

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Less than a minute later, the person said "Mayday, mayday," reporting the plane was suddenly descending at 10,000 feet per minute. Seconds later, the person declared an emergency, with the descent rate reaching 20,000 feet per minute.

Less than 20 seconds later, the person said: "We're going to crash into the ground," before reporting the descent rate had reached 22,000 feet per minute as the plane began to bank. 

Flightradar24 data showed the vertical descent rate at one point exceeded 32,000 feet per minute. The last words heard from the cockpit were "we're out of time."

Driver Aki Kuusisto's dashcam footage captured the moment the jet hit the ground. "I heard a whistling noise, a big bang, and I saw a fireball," he told CBS News. "It felt like it was right next to us... you could feel it in the car."

Accuweather reported that thunderstorms in the area produced heavy rainfall and lightning. AP reports that the pilots were warned by controllers about the looming storms as they crossed into Florida and the FAA published an official warning about the weather prior to the plane's departure on Nov. 1.

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According to AccuWeather, the tops of some of the storm clouds reached up to 45,000 feet, making it difficult for planes to fly over. The plane may not have been able to detect the updrafts that can intensify precipitation, as AccuWeather's Dan DePodwin said that the weather radars on planes have limitations.

Chapman said that the investigators are yet to determine what the weather conditions were at 35,000 feet, the altitude the plane was flying at when problems were first reported by the copilot. He added that the investigators hope to recover the cockpit voice recorder.

'A cataclysmic plane crash'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters during a Nov. 1 briefing that there was "a lot of debris" that was strewn over a "pretty significant distance." 

"It was a cataclysmic plane crash," DeSantis said. "It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road." 

Transportation Secretary Duffy called the crash a "horrific tragedy" and said the FAA and Department of Transportation would be investigating the incident.

Anthony Blackmon, who lives around 500 feet from the site of the crash, told NBC Miami that debris from the crash struck his home.

"Debris was everywhere," he said. "Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire. I've always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today." 

Adam Itayem told WPTV, "It sounded like a loud boom. I thought it was thunder," adding, "I saw a big crater in the ground and water coming out of the crater and a big fire too."

"I heard and felt the boom," Andrew Mannino told CNN, saying he saw a "large black cloud immerse in the air," adding, "The power immediately went out and is still out."

Around 600 people were evacuated by Palm Beach County authorities while federal officials investigate the crash.

"We're waiting for someone to give us answers about what we're going to do, because they're not even letting us into the community to get our clothes," local resident Jesus Solorzano told WPTV.

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