THE pilot thought to be behind the controls of the Learjet that nosedived at more than 300mph, killing nine, has been named and pictured for the first time.
A tech tycoon, his wife, and their two toddlers were also killed in the horror crash that saw the jet smash into a road and explode on Sunday.
Captain Jeffrey Gregory, 55, “went home to be with the Lord when the plane he was flying crashed”, according to a church tribute.
Jeffrey’s old friend and former neighbor David Peters told The U.S. Sun that the church they grew up attending, Limerick Chapel in Limerick, Pennsylvania, sent out an email about Jeffrey after his death.
Peters said both of their parents worked at the church, that he and Jeffrey attended a small Christian school, were neighbors and later worked together locally.
He remembered Jeffrey as “very diligent and dependable,” and said he had wanted to become a pilot from a young age and recalled that he “loved wearing his leather bomber jacket.”
Peters said Jeffrey built a decades-long career in aviation and was a devoted family man whose faith remained strong to the end.
In harrowing audio from the doomed flight, Jeffrey could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer in his final moments.
Peters added: “I know he worked hard to become a pilot and it was something he truly loved and poured his life and heart into.”
Jeffrey leaves behind his wife Cheryl, 53, and their older children.
April Honnen shared on Facebook: “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 U.S. Sun obtained FAA records showing pilot Jeffrey was issued an Airline Transport Pilot certificate on October 1, 2021, with ratings for multiple jet types, including the Learjet 60.
His certificate showed no pilot-in-command restriction on the LR-60, meaning the license itself did not bar him from serving as captain of that aircraft type.
A separate LR-JET rating did carry a pilot-in-command limitation, but that restriction did not apply to his Learjet 60 qualification.
FAA records also show he held a First Class medical certificate dated June 2026.
Jeffrey is likely to have been in control of the jet in the two-person cockpit, given that his co-pilot was handling radio communications.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, whose heartbreaking final cries for help were heard on air traffic control audio, was likely in charge of comms.
Young aviators often serve as pilot monitors on small jets so they can build up their flight hours.
Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, and their two children, Emma 4, and Charlie, 2, were flying with two close friends and a nanny when their aircraft experienced turbulence and icy conditions before smashing into the ground in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Robinson’s relatives released a statement on Monday, where they identified the family of four, the parents’ friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina.
“Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives,” the statement read.
“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.”
The family’s statement continued, “Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure.
“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.”
The family asked for privacy as they grieved the devastating loss.
What we know so far about the Learjet crash:
- The plane went down in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday night, with bone-chilling audio revealing the flight’s final moments before the crash killed all nine people on board.
- The young co-pilot was identified as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20. A resurfaced interview with Filgueiras revealed that she earned her pilot’s license at just 17.
- It was initially feared that pieces of the aircraft had ripped off mid-air before the pilots lost control.
- Video of the crash site showed the fiery crater left by the Learjet as it plummeted to the ground.
- Experts have identified clues in the harrowing audio pointing to a potential cause of the crash known by pilots as “coffin corner.”
- The other victims have been identified as Adam Robinson, 45, his wife, Helena Sharp, 40, their two children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, as well as two close friends, a nanny, and the captain.
Helen’s father, Dudley Sharp, confirmed his daughter was among those killed in the horrific crash.
“It’s quite a blow,” Sharp, 70, told The Palm Beach Post.
“We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane.”
Social media accounts indicate the couple were both entrepreneurs.
Helen was a potter and owned a public relations company, while Robinson was a software company founder who posted on LinkedIn shortly before the crash.
The Learjet 60 plunged nearly 27,000 feet in less than a minute before slamming into a residential street creating a massive crater and triggering a fireball that sent thick black smoke into the sky.
Shocking video footage from the scene showed flames pouring from the wreckage, water filling parts of the crater and debris scattered across the roadway and nearby properties.
The impact set parts of the road on fire and scattered debris throughout the neighborhood, damaging nearby homes and forcing about 600 residents to evacuate.
One resident, Anthony Blackmon, told NBC affiliate WTVJ that debris struck his house and that everything, including the roadway, was on fire.
The crash occurred around 12.50pm as the jet traveled from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
A family member confirmed his identity to TMZ.
The National Transportation Safety Board held a news conference Monday, confirming that ice began forming on the plane amid moderate turbulence.
The flight crew requested permission to climb from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet shortly before declaring an emergency.
Seconds later, Jeff’s co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, issued the distress mayday call, saying, “We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000ft per minute.”
As the situation turned dire, Filgueiras continued to plead for help, “We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we’re descending 10,000ft per minute.”
Victims’ families break their silence
A joint statement from the families of Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, Emma and Charlie Robinson, Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina:
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.
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. 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.
We are deeply grateful to the first responders, investigators, and the Palm Beach County community for their care, and to everyone who has reached out with love. Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us.
We ask for privacy as we grieve. Details about memorial services will be shared once arrangements are made.
With love,
The Robinson, Sharp, Reed, Fehr, and Cetina families
The audio recorded during the plane’s final moments captured the cockpit crew desperately attempting to regain control of the aircraft, before Filgueiras is heard screaming, “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
“Holy f*** we’re out of time,” she said before the audio from the Learjet 60 went silent.
The U.S. Sun has decided not to publish the final seconds of the distress call.
Camila Corteleti, Filgueiras’ mother, confirmed to the New York Post that her daughter was aboard the twin-engine aircraft.
The aircraft came crashing down in a residential area, bursting into a massive fireball on impact.
Shocking dashcam footage captured the moment the jet slammed into the ground, leaving behind a large crater and widespread destruction.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the horrifying scene, saying the aircraft looked like “a missile going down.”
A Palm Beach County native, Filgueiras earned her private pilot’s license in October 2023, while attending West Boca Raton High School. She was just 17 years old at the time.
Her achievement was highlighted in a report by CBS affiliate WPEC, where she proudly explained that she had learned to fly before obtaining her driver’s license.
“I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly,’” she said during the interview.
She added that she enjoyed doing something different from her classmates and was proud of accomplishing something many people her age had never considered.
Her aviation journey began in 2020, when she enrolled in Ground School during her sophomore year.
Her interest in flying was also encouraged by her father, who began flying recreationally in 2018 and helped introduce her to aviation.
By the time she earned her license, Filgueiras had accumulated 88 hours of flight experience and successfully completed the required aviation knowledge examination.
At the time of her death, her stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, said Filgueiras had logged 1,300 hours of flying experience.
Her training was funded through the Palm Beach County School District’s Aviation Academy.
The tragedy also sparked false speculation online that legendary musician Lenny Kravitz had been among those onboard. His representative quickly dismissed the claims, telling BocaNewsNow that the reports were “untrue and incorrect.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the circumstances surrounding the disaster.
Meanwhile, former pilot Martin Varsavsky has suggested that severe weather may have played a role in the aircraft’s sudden loss of control.
One possibility he raised was a dangerous aerodynamic phenomenon known as coffin corner.
This occurs at high altitudes when an aircraft’s minimum safe flying speed approaches its maximum operating speed, leaving pilots with an extremely narrow margin for maintaining control.
If an aircraft flies too slowly, it risks stalling. If it exceeds its safe speed, it can also become dangerously difficult to control.
Varsavsky speculated that the Learjet may have attempted to climb above two storm systems before encountering dangerous atmospheric conditions.
Comparing the possibility to previous aviation disasters, including Air France Flight 447 in 2009, he argued that pilots must maintain a substantial distance from powerful storm systems rather than attempting to fly through them.
However, investigators have not established weather, pilot error or coffin corner as the cause of the Florida crash.
The NTSB investigation will determine what happened during the aircraft’s final moments and why a flight carrying nine people ended in such a devastating loss of life.
Night-shift truck driver Armando Perez was in bed when a loud, supersonic boom suddenly startled him awake.
Perez said the powerful blast rattled him, comparing the sensation to standing next to an enormous subwoofer.
“I thought, ‘is this freaking Iran?’” Perez told local media.
