“Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,” Robinson’s brother shared in a social media tribute, following the devastating private aviation disaster that unfolded in Palm Beach County on Nov. 1, 2026. The Florida Learjet crash wiped out a young Texas family of four, along with two friends, their nanny, and the flight crew operating the aircraft.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 44-year-old multimillionaire tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. The family had chartered a $2 million Learjet 60 for a flight originating from Austin, Texas, bound for the Bahamas before it went down outside a mobile home park.
Also on board the aircraft were friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, alongside the family’s nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina. Relatives released a joint statement describing the loss of the passengers. Friends Rachael and Charmi were remembered as individuals who “were full of joy and adventure. They loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation.” Meanwhile, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina was honored for caring for the children “with tenderness and devotion, and she was truly part of the family.”
Adam Robinson was founder and CEO of software companies Retention.com and RB2B, having previously worked at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital according to professional profile records. Helen Sharp was a ceramics artist who frequently shared videos of her works on her Instagram.
Flight Crew Identification and Investigation into Final Moments
Authorities confirmed that the pilot in command was 55-year-old Jeff Gregory. The co-pilot was 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who got her pilot’s license while still in high school.
🚨BREAKING UPDATE: Texas tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, their two young children, and several others have been identified in reports as victims of Sunday’s devastating Learjet 60 crash in Palm Beach County, Florida.🚨 Robinson, 44, was an Austin-based entrepreneur… pic.twitter.com/qrIaL8IXzX
Air traffic control radio recordings captured moments from the cockpit prior to impact. Pilot Jeff Gregory was heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer during the final seconds before the jet plunged into the ground. Concurrently, co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was heard screaming and pleading for help.
Aviation attorney Zachary S. Gorwitz of the firm Podhurst Orseck noted that the audio dynamics may offer clues regarding cockpit duties. “The fact that this 20 year co-pilot was the one on the radio suggests the pilot was at the controls,” he stated.
National Transportation Safety Board representatives stated in a press briefing that the aircraft began to break up before impact, dispersing wreckage across a half-mile radius. Federal investigators have not determined what caused the jet to plummet from the sky, nor whether the plane had a black box cockpit voice recorder — or if the device survived.
