Florida plane crash victims identified as tech tycoon, wife and 2 toddlersGina Martinez Mon, November 2, 2026 at 10:06 PM UTC
The Texas family were traveling with their nanny and two other friends -Credit:Family Handout (Family Handout)
A couple and their two young children have been identified as passengers on the tragic Florida private plane crash.
On Sunday, a business jet carrying nine people was captured on dashcam footage nose-diving into a South Florida neighborhood before erupting into a giant fireball that appeared to just miss homes near a busy roadway.
Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife Helen Sharp, 40, were aboard the jet alongside their two toddlers when it crashed near West Palm Beach on Sunday, TMZ reported.
The family was traveling from their home in Austin to the Bahamas with their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, according to a joint statement released by the victims' families.
• Florida plane crash pilot identified as 20-year-old who got license in high school
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"Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives. Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,' the statement said.
"Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and who they loved in return."
Robinson was an entrepreneur who set up the tech company Retention, and Helen ran a communications firm called Influential PR -Credit:Instagram/Helen Robinson
The statement added: "Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure. They loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation. From the moment they met, they were all in on each other and the life they were building. They are deeply loved, and we will miss them endlessly."
"Anita Maria cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion, and she was truly part of the family. She showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion."
Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr also perished in the crash, family confirmed -Credit:Rachael Reed/Facebook
Robinson was an entrepreneur who set up the tech company Retention, and Helen ran a communications firm called Influential PR. She also owned an Aspen-based pottery studio called Helen Sharp Ceramics.
The news came hours after the co-pilot was identified as 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha.
Gadelha got her pilot license while still enrolled in high school, according to The New York Post. Her mother, Camila, and her stepfather confirmed to the outlet that Gadelha was the co-pilot flying a Learjet 60 from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when the plane crashed into the ground in Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon.
The young pilot reportedly earned her pilot's license at 17, before she had her driver's license.
The family was traveling from their home in Austin to the Bahamas with their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina -Credit:Family Handout
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the moment the plane fell as looking "like a missile."
"When you see that video, you know, it's a jarring thing," DeSantis said. "It was like... a missile coming down and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere."
The aircraft had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed to the Bahamas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The young pilot reportedly got her pilot license at the age of 17, before she had her driver's license. -Credit:THREADS
The cause of the crash remains unknown. Parts of the business jet appear to have broken off before the aircraft crashed in South Florida and erupted into a ball of flames.
Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice accumulating on the jet and turbulence that was jolting it by as much as 700 feet, according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.
“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.
But the situation rapidly deteriorated. After encountering precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency as the aircraft began losing altitude at an alarming rate.
On Sunday a business jet carrying nine people that nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood -Credit:@X
“We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed.
“We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed, before delivering a devastating acknowledgment of what was about to happen. “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
“Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire,” Anthony Blackmon, who lives near the crash site, told NBC affiliate WTVJ. “I’ve always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today.”
Source: Crime
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