The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

TECH entrepreneur Adam Robinson and his family had planned to spend several days at the Ocean View Club on Harbour Island, Eleuthera, before their fatal plane crash, it emerged yesterday as the investigation into the tragedy continued.

Mr Robinson, 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, boarded a private Learjet in Austin, Texas, on Sunday with their nanny and friends. The flight to North Eleuthera International Airport was expected to take just over two hours. Instead, the aircraft crashed and burst into flames in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine on board.

Ben Simmons, manager of Ocean View Club in Harbour Island, confirmed yesterday that the Robinson family had reservations at the property and had visited before.

"They were returning guests," he said.

Susanna Moldawer, who identified herself as Ms Sharp's aunt, said the couple had visited the island for her son's wedding in 2024. "They were a lovely family and this is just unspeakable and sad," she said. "We are making arrangements."

Harbour Island, about 1.75 miles off Eleuthera's east coast, is known for its pink-sand beaches and close-knit community.

Mr Robinson, a software entrepreneur and former Wall Street trader, founded Retention.com, RB2B and Robly Email Marketing. Ms Sharp was CEO and founding partner of Influential PR, and founded Helen Sharp Ceramics.

Also on board were the family's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina; friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr; and the pilots, Jeff Gregory, 55, and Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, of Boca Raton.

Capt Gregory had a decades-long aviation career and was a devoted family man of strong faith. He leaves his wife, Cheryl, and their older children. Ms Filgueiras reportedly earned her private pilot's licence in 2023, aged 17, while a senior at West Boca Raton Community High School, and had logged more than 1,300 flight hours.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation, assisted by the Federal Aviation Administration. Investigators say weather is a major focus after the crew reported icing and turbulence shortly before the crash.

Ms Filgueiras told controllers in Miami that ice was accumulating and that turbulence had thrown the jet up and down by more than 700 feet (210 metres). The crew reportedly described a descent of about 10,000 feet per minute, then an overspeed condition and about 20,000 feet per minute. Air traffic control recordings reportedly captured Ms Filgueiras screaming "We're going to die!" and the captain reciting the Lord's Prayer.

NTSB member Tom Chapman said part of the tail was found more than a mile from the impact crater, confirming the jet began breaking up before it crashed. The elevator was in three pieces, found up to 3.8 miles from the main wreckage. Without it, he said, the pilots could not have pulled the aircraft out of its nose dive.

"The function of the elevator is to control the pitch up and down," he said. "At those speeds I don't know that it would've been effective even if it had still been attached to the aircraft, but knowing that it was lost is a very important piece of evidence in terms of pointing us towards other things to investigate."

A preliminary report is expected in about a month, but determining the cause is likely to take more than a year.