Florida Learjet crash victims identified: 20-year-old copilot, tech entrepreneur and his family among those killed

The family of a tech entrepreneur, their help, another couple along with the copilot, have been identified as the victims of the private jet crash in South Florida on Sunday.

Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their children, 4-year-old Emma and 2-year-old Charlie, according to a statement from the families of the seven passengers. Anita Maria Cetina, who helped care for the children, also died.

Who was Adam Robinson?

According to his LinkedIn page, Robinson was the founder and CEO of RB2B and Retention.com, and the CEO of Moltsets.

He previously worked at global financial services business Lehman Brothers and the banking group Barclays.

Robinson recently told the ProfitLed podcast that he and his family lived in Aspen, Colorado. “I feel like I’m living the dream,” Robinson, 45, said.

“I love the fact that I get to see my kids in the morning and the evening, and I don’t have to travel for work that much, and I get to live in this place that’s always been my dream,” he said. “And my wife is super happy because she can be a full-time artist.”

According to The Associated Press, Robinson was known in Austin, Texas, where Retention.com was based. It’s the second time this year that Austin has lost a tech entrepreneur in a plane crash, following the June death of Joshua Baer, who led a venture capital firm that supported tech startups.

“Adam was part of the entrepreneurial fabric of Austin,” Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, told AP.

Two co-passengers, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr have also been identified as those killed in the crash. According to the family, the couple was “full of joy and adventure who loved each other fiercely and were building a life together.”

It was not immediately clear what their relationship was with Robinson and Sharp.

Copilot had flying license before she could drive

Among the two crew members of the ill-fated private jet, one has been identified as 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. She was the copilot flying the Learjet from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, on Sunday when it crashed and exploded near West Palm Beach.

According to her family, Filgueiras had been a licensed pilot since she was a teenager. Filgueiras earned her license in 2023 when she was a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School.

Filgueiras’ pilot’s license showed she had the rating to fly the jet but not to be in command of the flight.

The Palm Beach County School District paid for her license as part of the high school’s specialized aviation academy, in which students practice flying on simulators and drones.

“Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car,” Filgueiras told WPEC-TV in 2023. “I think it’s funny.”

The identity of the pilot who was also killed in the crash has not been made public yet.