A family of four with ties to Austin, including two children ages 4 and 2, were among nine people killed Sunday when a Bahamas-bound business jet crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, according to a joint statement from the victims’ families.
Families identified the seven passengers as Adam Robinson; his wife, Helen Sharp; their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; Rachel Reed; Charmi Fehr; and Anita Maria Cetina.
Robinson was the founder and CEO of Retention.com and RB2b, marketing technology companies that helped businesses identify visitors to their websites. Sharp had been CEO and founding partner of Influential PR.
In September, Sharp announced in a social media post that the family was making Aspen, Colorado, “our permanent home after a trial period” as she focused on her new ceramics business.
The families called Robinson and Sharp “devoted parents” and said their young children were “the light of their lives.”
The release described Reed and Fehr as partners “full of joy and adventure.” He said Cetina cared for Emma and Charlie “with tenderness and devotion, and was truly part of the family.”
Federal investigators said Monday that the crew of a business jet that left Austin reported ice buildup on the plane and turbulence strong enough to push it up or down shortly before the plane plunged toward the ground.
Two pilots also died when the Learjet 60 crashed on a road in a residential area of Palm Beach County shortly before noon Austin time Sunday, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
A man was shot in the leg as he walked away from the area, investigators said. No other people on the ground were injured.
Government authorities have not determined the cause of the accident. The New York Times And New York Post reported that Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, of Boca Raton, was one of the drivers. Her mother identified her to both newspapers, but authorities have not confirmed her identity.
Federal Aviation Administration records show Filgueiras held a commercial pilot certificate and rating that allowed him to fly the Learjet 60, but not to serve as pilot-in-command.
About 400 people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood, which includes dozens of mobile homes, while crews searched for pieces of the plane. Investigators described a debris field about a half-mile long, with small pieces of the plane scattered across ball fields, businesses and residential properties.
The plane left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport around 9:37 a.m. for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, NTSB board member Tom Chapman said during the agency’s first briefing since the fatal crash.
Public flight tracking data placed the plane on the airport ramp near Signature Aviation before takeoff. Signature is one of ABIA’s three fixed-base operators, which provide services such as fueling, parking and passenger amenities. A person who answered the phone at Signature said someone would call KUT News back.
Around 11:47 a.m. Central Time, while flying at 35,000 feet, the crew reported to air traffic controllers that they were encountering light, clear ice and moderate turbulence. Clear ice is a transparent varnish that forms on the aircraft when water droplets hit the aircraft and spread before freezing.
The crew described the ice as manageable, Chapman said.
The turbulence caused the plane’s altitude to vary by approximately 700 feet. The crew then reported precipitation and requested to climb to 37,000 feet. Air traffic control approved the request.
Less than 30 seconds later, the crew reported that the plane was descending and declared an emergency. Pilots reported descent rates of 10,000 then 20,000 feet per minute. One pilot said he was overspeeding, meaning the plane was traveling faster than its allowable limit.
“We’re going to crash into the ground,” a panicked pilot radioed to air traffic control as she reported altitude readings and the angle at which the plane was banking. The plane crashed around 11:51 a.m. Central Time.
Local officials said formally identifying the victims could take time because DNA would need to be matched.
“It’s a long process, so I’m not assuming anything immediately,” said Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo.
Investigators have early indications that the plane may have started to break apart before impact.
“We’ve just started our documentation. We have a lot of work to do on site,” said Tim Monville, NTSB investigator in charge. “It will take several days, and the biggest obstacle we will encounter will be recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway.”
About twenty NTSB investigators are working on this case.
The NTSB said the plane was operated by Aurora Aviation, doing business as Upper Jets. The agency described the flight as a Part 135 operation, which covers on-demand commercial services such as charter flights and air taxis.
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