Who is Adam Robinson that was on the leah jet from Austin?
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Adam Robinson was a 44-year-old Austin tech entrepreneur who, along with his wife and two toddlers, was killed when the Learjet 60 they were aboard crashed in Florida.
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Background
The family was flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas aboard a Learjet 60 when the plane went down around 12:50 p.m. Sunday in Greenacres, a community in Palm Beach County about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The crash killed all 9 people aboard.
Who Adam Robinson was
Robinson founded several e-commerce and marketing software companies and was serving as CEO of Austin-based Retention.com, RB2B, and MoltSets at the time of his death. He spent a decade working on Wall Street before founding GetEmail, an artificial intelligence startup. He was a graduate of Rice University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics, Spanish and managerial studies in 2003, and earned two varsity letters as a member of the men's basketball team.
Who was on the plane
Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two children, ages 2 and 4, were identified among the crash victims by Helen's father, Dudley Sharp, who spoke to the Austin American-Statesman. Family members also identified friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and the Robinsons' nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina. The captain and co-pilot were also killed. The captain was identified as Jeff Gregory, 55.
What the NTSB found
The National Transportation Safety Board said ice began forming on the jet as it flew through moderate turbulence. The crew asked to climb from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet shortly before an emergency was declared. The jet was reportedly descending at more than 20,000 feet per minute as the crew desperately attempted to regain control. The NTSB is investigating, and said weather would be a major focus of the inquiry.
Our hearts go out to the Robinson family and all the families who lost someone on that flight.
Follow-ups
Who is Helen Sharp?Helen Sharp was a 40-year-old Austin entrepreneur, public relations founder and ceramics artist who was killed alongside her husband Adam Robinson and their two young children in the Learjet 60 crash in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Helen Sharp was a 40-year-old Austin entrepreneur, public relations founder and ceramics artist who was killed alongside her husband Adam Robinson and their two young children in the Learjet 60 crash in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Helen Sharp was an innovator in public relations and brand-story development for emerging, mission-driven brands, and the founder of Be Influential, a specialized PR agency focused on purpose-driven businesses. Her client work included organizations such as the Surfrider Foundation, 1% for the Planet, Repurpose and LastObject.
Helen had previously founded and run Be Influential in Austin; at the time of her death, she was running a ceramics business. She operated Helen Sharp Ceramics, a pottery studio based in Aspen. She also maintained a ceramics studio out of her home and sold her work to stores around Texas.
Her father, Dudley Sharp, told The Palm Beach Post that Helen was 40. The couple lived in Austin with their two children, Emma, age 4, and Charlie, age 2.
In a joint statement shared on Facebook, the families named the victims as Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, the nanny who cared for the children.
Who is Jeff Gregory?Jeff Gregory was the 55-year-old pilot and captain of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, killing all 9 people aboard, including the passengers Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, and their two young children.
Jeff Gregory was the 55-year-old pilot and captain of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, killing all 9 people aboard, including the passengers Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, and their two young children.
In the aftermath of the fiery Learjet 60 crash that killed all nine people aboard in Palm Beach County, Florida, the captain at the controls was identified as Jeff Gregory, a 55-year-old pilot.
Jeff Gregory was the captain of the Learjet 60, a midsize business jet, on a flight from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Gregory was an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania.
His connection to East Coast Jets
A spokesperson for East Coast Jets, Inc., an Allentown-based aviation company, said Captain Jeff Gregory worked with the company briefly in 2016 and 2017 before "pursuing other opportunities." The aircraft involved in the crash was not one of East Coast Jets' planes. The company issued a statement mourning his loss: "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."
The co-pilot
Gregory was piloting the aircraft alongside co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha, who was just 20 years old. Gadelha had earned her pilot's license when she was just 17, before she had even graduated high school.
What the NTSB found
The National Transportation Safety Board stated there is some indication the plane was breaking up before it hit the ground. Jet pilots had reported turbulence, icing and precipitation before the crash.
How did Nathalia Gadelha earn her pilot's license at 17?Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras earned her private pilot's license at 17, before she held a driver's license, through the School District of Palm Beach County's Aviation Academy, which covered the cost entirely.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras earned her private pilot's license at 17, before she held a driver's license, through the School District of Palm Beach County's Aviation Academy, which covered the cost entirely.
Nathalia Gadelha grew up in Palm Beach County and drew local media coverage when, at 17, she earned her license as a private pilot before she held a driver's license. The Aviation Academy covered the cost of her pilot license after launching the program in 2023.
In October 2023, CBS12 interviewed Gadelha when she was a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton High School. In her own words at the time, she said: “I like being different than everyone, so to me I think it’s cool that like it’s not really an opportunity.”
Gadelha earned her pilot license at 17, before she had a driver’s license, and dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot.
To put that milestone in context: in the US, the FAA (the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that sets the rules for civil aviation) requires a person to be at least 17 to hold a private pilot certificate. A person must be at least 16 years of age to be eligible for a student pilot certificate, and 17 for a pilot certificate. Gadelha hit the minimum age and did it, through a program that removed the financial barrier.
Gadelha’s family is Brazilian but lives in Florida, where she was born. By 20, she was serving as co-pilot aboard the same Learjet 60 that crashed in Greenacres, killing all 9 people on board.
Who is Nathalia Gadelha?Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was a 20-year-old commercial pilot from Palm Beach County, Florida, who was killed as co-pilot of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Greenacres, killing all 9 people aboard.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was a 20-year-old commercial pilot from Palm Beach County, Florida, who was killed as co-pilot of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Greenacres, killing all 9 people aboard.
Quick facts
- Born: Born about 2006 (age 20 at death)
- From: Palm Beach County, Florida; family has Brazilian roots
- Known for: Earning her private pilot's license at 17, before she held a driver's license; co-pilot of the Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County
- Flight hours: 1,300 hours logged by age 20
- School: West Boca Raton High School
- Dream: To become a commercial airline pilot
Her story
Nathalia Gadelha, also known as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, was an American-based pilot from a Brazilian family. She came from a family with Brazilian roots and spent much of her childhood in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Nathalia began taking flying lessons in 2020, learning from her father before graduating from American Flyers flight school, with dreams of becoming a commercial airline pilot. She was a senior at West Boca Raton High School when she gained her pilot's license in 2023, before she even got her driver's license. The license came through the School District of Palm Beach County's Aviation Academy, which covered the cost of the program entirely.
At the time, she told CBS12:
"I definitely do brag because people say, 'Oh, you can't drive,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, but I can fly'."
According to information provided by her family following the accident, she had accumulated more than 1,300 flight hours by the age of 20. News of her death focused attention on her early achievements in aviation. At 20, she was sharing experiences associated with the aviation career she had discussed publicly as a teenager.
The crash
The plane was bound for the Bahamas after departing Austin, Texas, and went into a steep nosedive, dropping at a rate exceeding 20,000 feet each minute before impact.
Her family told the New York Post that she was the co-pilot. Her family said: "She was the co-pilot and couldn't make any decisions." The cockpit voice recordings released after the crash captured a mayday call in the plane's final seconds. Just 35 seconds after the initial mayday announcement, the last words from the cockpit were "we're out of time."
Her stepfather Thiago Corteleti confirmed her identity and told the New York Post that she had texted her family about turbulence and ice before the plane went down. Her mother often shared pictures of the family flying together in small planes, while her sister reposted a video on TikTok in the hours after the crash.
The FAA (the Federal Aviation Administration) and the NTSB (the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates aviation accidents) are investigating the cause of the crash.
Is it legal to fly a commercial aircraft at 20 years old?Yes, flying a commercial aircraft at 20 is legal under FAA rules, and Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot killed in the Palm Beach County Learjet 60 crash, held a commercial pilot certificate, the qualification required for paid flying at that age.
Yes, flying a commercial aircraft at 20 is legal under FAA rules, and Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot killed in the Palm Beach County Learjet 60 crash, held a commercial pilot certificate, the qualification required for paid flying at that age.
Yes, flying a commercial aircraft at 20 is legal under FAA rules, though it comes with a ceiling: the co-pilot role on a charter flight like the one Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was aboard sits within what a commercial certificate permits, but the highest-level certificate required to fly for the major airlines carries a higher age floor.
What each certificate allows
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that sets the rules for all civil aviation in the US) runs a three-rung ladder:
- A private pilot certificate requires a minimum age of 17, and a commercial pilot certificate requires a minimum age of 18, under FAA rules 14 CFR §61.103 and §61.123 respectively.
- The Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, the highest level of FAA pilot certification and what major airlines require before putting anyone in a cockpit on scheduled passenger service, carries a standard minimum age of 23 under 14 CFR §61.153.
A commercial certificate is what you need to be paid to fly. The ATP is what comes next, when you're ready for the airlines.
Where Nathalia Gadelha fit in that ladder
She began flight lessons in 2020 under her father's guidance, earned her private pilot's license at 17 while attending West Boca Raton High School, and later graduated from American Flyers flight school.
The ATP certificate and the airlines themselves would have been her next step, available to her at 23.
The question investigators will ask
Whether Gadelha held the specific type rating for the Learjet 60, a separate qualification beyond the base certificate that certifies a pilot on a particular aircraft model, is what the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates aviation accidents) will examine. Age alone was not a legal barrier to her role. What will matter is whether every certificate, rating and flight-hour requirement for that specific seat on that specific aircraft was met, and the NTSB investigation is ongoing.
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