Florida Learjet Crash: Pilot's Final Moments

Jeff Gregory, a 55-year-old pilot from the Philadelphia suburbs, died when a Learjet 60 crashed into a residential area in Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday afternoon. All nine people on board the Bahamas-bound aircraft were killed in the collision, which occurred about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. The incident has raised questions about the structural integrity of the jet and the severity of the weather conditions it faced moments before impact.

Gregory served as the captain of the flight. A federal investigator stated Monday that portions of the aircraft likely began to separate before it struck the ground. The co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, reported to air traffic control that ice was building up on the plane. She also described severe turbulence that displaced the aircraft vertically by more than 700 feet. In her final radio transmission, Filgueiras screamed, “We’re going to die!” before the jet hit the ground and erupted in flames.

Audio from the co-pilot’s final radio calls captured a man’s voice reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the background. Friends of Gregory believe the voice belonged to him, a devout Christian. Thomas Noetzel, the director of operations for Upper Jets, the company that operated the flight, described Gregory as a close friend and a deeply faithful man. Noetzel organized an online fundraiser to support Gregory’s wife and children. Walter Noetzel, Thomas’s father, posted on Facebook that Gregory had a genuine passion for flying and a strong love for the Lord.

Gregory held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. He resided in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, roughly 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia. He had previously worked for a charter company in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and spent two years at East Coast Jets, Inc. April Honnen, the director of charter sales for East Coast Jets, said the company was deeply saddened by the loss. She noted that Gregory had worked for the firm in 2016 and 2017.

The aircraft originated in Austin, Texas. Among the victims were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their two young children, according to relatives. The impact of the crash created a crater in the ground and scattered debris over a wide area. Approximately 600 nearby residents have been displaced from their homes. Only one injury was reported on the ground. Images captured just before impact appear to show the horizontal stabilizer missing from the tail section.

Filgueiras texted her boyfriend about 10 minutes before the crash, stating, “I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.” Her stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, shared these messages with the New York Post. The texts were sent before the situation became critical. In the final two minutes of the flight, Filgueiras shifted from calm communication with controllers to urgent updates as the plane descended. The FAA prohibits commercial airline pilots from using cellphones during flight, though rules for charter flights are less strict, allowing phone use during cruise unless banned by the company or pilot in command.

Tom Chapman, a National Transportation Safety Board member, identified weather as a primary focus of the investigation. A preliminary report describing the events will be released in approximately one month. Investigators expect it will take more than a year to determine the definitive cause of the crash. The investigation will examine the data from the flight recorders and the physical debris field to reconstruct the final moments of the flight.