PALM BEACH.- The public identification of the nine occupants and the first findings of the investigation begin to clarify the circumstances of the accident of the Learjet 60 that crashed on November 1 near Greenacres. On board were a young co-pilot, the captain, a couple with their two small children, a couple who were friends of the family and the children’s caregiver. None survived.
The aircraft was en route between Austin, Texas, and North Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, when it went down around 12:50 pm next to a residential community. One man was injured on the ground and about 400 people were displaced. Investigators are examining evidence that parts of the plane broke off during the flight, but have not yet established what triggered the emergency.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was the co-pilot, her father, Allan Filgueiras, confirmed to NBC6. Her sister Giulia explained to the same medium that the family is Brazilian and that the young woman had also learned from her father, who practiced recreational aviation.
His career had attracted the attention of the local press before the tragedy. A CBS12 report published in October 2023 documented that he obtained his private pilot’s license at the age of 17, when he did not yet have a driver’s license.
He was then a senior at West Boca Raton High School. He had begun theoretical training in 2020 and achieved certification in September 2023 through the Aviation Academy, with funding from the Palm Beach County School District. He aspired to work for an airline or fly private jets.
He then continued his training at American Flyers. His mother, Camila Corteleti, and stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, told the New York Post that he had been working professionally for about nine months and had accumulated around 1,300 flight hours.
The stepfather also told that newspaper that, about ten minutes before the accident, Nathalia had sent her boyfriend a message in which she mentioned turbulence and ice. This family testimony is added to the crew’s communications that investigators are analyzing.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has not yet specified the functions of each crew member during the emergency.
CBS News Miami identified the captain as Jeffrey Gregory, 55, from a manifest and a source with direct knowledge.
Relatives of the seven passengers released a statement with the names of technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, a couple close to the family, and Anita Maria Cetina, who took care of the children, were also traveling.
The statement remembered Robinson and Sharp as devoted parents to their children and described Cetina as part of the family. He highlighted Reed and Fehr for their joy, their adventurous spirit and the life they built together. The signatories thanked the first responders for their work, requested privacy and announced that they will communicate the details of the memorial services when they are organized.
The release of names does not mean that forensic identification has been completed. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) reported that the official procedure was still ongoing and that the medical examiner’s office was conducting DNA collection and analysis.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Learjet had taken off from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport bound for North Eleuthera. It fell in the vicinity of Cresthaven, around Military Trail and 10th Avenue North.
The impact opened a crater in the road and scattered debris near homes and businesses. The images released show a pronounced descent, followed by an explosion. The NTSB identified the operator as Aurora Aviation, which uses the trade name Upper Jet.
The update offered on November 2 allowed us to know part of the sequence prior to the fall. Tom Chapman, a member of the NTSB, explained that the crew had reported to the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center that they were encountering light ice and moderate turbulence at 35,000 feet. The reported outside temperature was 47 degrees Celsius below zero.
The pilots requested to climb to 37,000 feet and were cleared. Less than 30 seconds later, they transmitted that they were descending and issued an emergency call. A subsequent communication reported a speeding condition.
Chapman pointed out that there are signs of parts of the aircraft detaching before impact. Specialists must still determine which components separated and reconstruct the order of events.
Meteorological conditions constitute one of the main focuses of the investigation. The reports of ice and turbulence, however, do not alone allow us to establish the cause of the incident.
Teams are also trying to determine whether the plane had the cockpit voice recorder listed in its maintenance records and whether it can be recovered. The water accumulated in the crater complicated access to the remains.
Investigator Timothy Monville reported a man who suffered a leg injury while in a vehicle near the crash site.
For residents of the area, the emergency continued a day later. County Commissioner Joel G. Flores put the balance at around 400 displaced people, of which 40 were in shelters, according to EFE. The affected area includes 77 mobile homes and the community is majority Hispanic.
Part of the evacuees remained at the Greenacres Community Center. Flores and County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo were working on temporary housing alternatives, with no set date for the families’ return.
Abruzzo reported the declaration of a local state of emergency and efforts to obtain state recognition, which would allow access to additional resources. A section of Military Trail remained closed while evidence was recovered and the safety of the road was evaluated.
As of this writing, the cause of the accident remains under investigation. The NTSB must establish how meteorological conditions, emergency communications and possible landslides are related before impact.
