A privately owned Learjet 60 crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on November 1, 2026, killing all nine people aboard. The aircraft, registration N722BD, was en route from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it entered a rapid uncontrolled descent and struck the ground near Greenacres. The impact produced a large fireball and left a crater in a roadway. One person on the ground was injured.
The flight carried two crew members and seven passengers. The captain was Jeff Gregory, 55, an experienced pilot from Pennsylvania. The first officer was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, of Boca Raton, FL. Among the passengers were Texas technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45; his wife Helen Sharp, 40; their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; the children’s nanny Anita Maria Cetina; and family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
Sequence Of Events
The Learjet departed Austin in the late morning. As the aircraft approached South Florida it encountered icing conditions and moderate turbulence at high altitude. Air traffic control recordings captured the crew reporting light clear ice that they described as manageable, along with moderate turbulence and an outside temperature of approximately minus 47 degrees Celsius.
The first officer requested a climb to 37,000 feet in an effort to find smoother air. Controllers approved the request. Less than thirty seconds later the situation deteriorated sharply. The crew declared an emergency, reporting that the aircraft was descending at 8,000 feet per minute, then 10,000 feet per minute, and finally more than 20,000 feet per minute while in an overspeed condition.
In the final transmissions the first officer stated that the airplane was going to crash into the ground. A male voice, believed to be the captain, could be heard reciting part of the Lord’s Prayer. The last recorded words from the cockpit included the statement that the crew was out of time. Radio contact was then lost. The aircraft struck the ground at approximately 12:51 p.m. local time.
Crew And Experience
Jeff Gregory served as captain. He held extensive experience as a professional pilot and had previously worked for private charter operators. Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras served as first officer. She earned her private pilot certificate at age 17 while still in high school and had accumulated more than 1,300 flight hours by the time of the accident. She worked for a Fort Lauderdale-based private charter company.
In a standard two-pilot cockpit one pilot flies the aircraft while the other handles radio communications. Recordings indicate that Filgueiras was the pilot communicating with air traffic control throughout the emergency sequence, consistent with Gregory focusing on control of the airplane.
Investigation Underway
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the accident. Preliminary information points to a combination of weather-related factors, including icing and turbulence, followed by a rapid loss of control and an extreme descent rate that exceeded the structural and performance limits of the aircraft. Investigators will examine the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder, weather data, aircraft maintenance records, and crew training and experience.
No determination of probable cause has been released. The investigation remains active.
The Human Cost
Nine lives ended in a matter of minutes. Two young children, their parents, their nanny, two family friends, and both pilots perished. Families of the passengers issued a joint statement expressing grief and asking for privacy. The mother of the first officer confirmed her daughter’s identity and spoke of her long-held ambition to fly.
The crash occurred in a populated area yet produced only one reported injury on the ground. Emergency responders contained the fire and secured the site. Residents of nearby homes were temporarily evacuated.
Aviation remains statistically safe, yet every accident underscores the unforgiving nature of flight when multiple factors align against the crew. Icing, turbulence, high altitude, and the narrow window for recovery can overwhelm even experienced pilots in a matter of seconds. The full explanation of what occurred on this flight will emerge only after the formal investigation is complete.
Until that report is issued, the public record consists of the flight path, the radio transmissions, the identities of those lost, and the visible consequences of a high-speed impact in a Florida neighborhood. Nine people boarded a business jet for a trip to the Bahamas. None of them arrived.
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