Pennsylvania Pilot Among Nine Killed in Florida Learjet Crash

Gregory, 55, was at the controls of the business jet when it plunged near Greenacres, Florida, and erupted in flames. The nine people killed included co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20; Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp; their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; two of the family’s friends; and their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina.

The aircraft was headed from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. In radio transmissions during the descent, the co-pilot warned air traffic control that the plane was coming down. A voice identified as Gregory’s could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Filgueiras had also told her boyfriend that the aircraft was encountering turbulence and ice, her family said.

Gregory, who lived in Pennsylvania, had worked for East Coast Jets in Allentown in 2016 and 2017. The company expressed condolences to his family, the other crew member and the passengers. Friends remembered him as dependable and said he had wanted to become a pilot from a young age. His church in Pennsylvania said he “went home to be with the Lord.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Investigators said weather is a major focus, and that parts of the jet appeared to break away before impact. A thunderstorm warning was in effect, and one pilot reported ice accumulating. The crash also injured a person in a vehicle near the site.