Jeffrey Gregory, the pilot heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer in haunting cockpit audio moments before a Learjet 60 plunged toward the ground in Florida, was remembered Monday as a deeply devoted Christian.
Gregory, 55, from Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, was flying the private jet Sunday afternoon when it erupted into a fireball near West Palm Beach, killing all nine people aboard.
The flight was carrying technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two. The family was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas to celebrate Robinson’s birthday when the fatal crash occurred, TMZ reports.
Also aboard the private aircraft were Robinson’s friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, along with the family’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina.
As federal officials investigate why the Learjet descended at a rate of about 20,000 feet per minute, the Limerick Chapel congregation where Gregory was raised said he had “gone home to be with the Lord.”
David Peters, a longtime friend and former neighbor, described Gregory as “very diligent and dependable.”
Gregory, a father of three grown children, had dreamed of becoming a pilot since childhood, Peters told the US Sun. He also recalled how much Gregory enjoyed wearing his “leather bomber jacket.”
Records from the Federal Aviation Administration show that Gregory received his Airline Transportation Pilot certificate on October 1, 2021. His qualifications covered several types of jets, including the Learjet 60.
He had also been issued a First Class medical certificate in June 2026.
Jeffrey Gregory, 55, of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, was at the controls of a Learjet 60 when it plunged onto a road near West Palm Beach, Florida, Sunday afternoon. He is pictured with his wife, Cheryl. Source: JeffnCheryl Corbin-Gregory/Facebook
Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, were traveling aboard the Learjet 60 with their children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when the aircraft crashed.
A meteorologist has suggested that the doomed Learjet may have flown directly into the center of a thunderstorm before crashing in Palm Beach, Florida.
Gregory’s background included a stint with Allentown-based East Coast Aviation from 2016 to 2017. According to his LinkedIn profile, he had also worked as a flight instructor and accumulated several decades of aviation experience.
After news of his death emerged, friends posted messages of sympathy on the joint Facebook page belonging to Gregory and his wife, Cheryl.
“Our hearts are breaking for you, Cheryl,” one person wrote. “Praying that you will know the hope and comfort that only our Savior can give.”
Another friend wrote that she imagined “Jeff bowing his head and closing his eyes, preparing his heart to see Jesus while praying The Lord’s Prayer.”
“And as his co-pilot was yelling at him to look out the window, I am sure he was praying for you, Cheryl, and your beautiful family.”
Investigators have not yet determined what caused the Learjet to plunge into the ground in Greenacres, Florida. The crash carved out a large crater and damaged infrastructure in the surrounding area.
The business jet had been flying east across Florida at 35,000 feet when co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras warned air traffic controllers that the aircraft was rapidly descending.
“Descending 20,000 feet per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground,” the co-pilot said. In the background, Gregory could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was co-piloting the Learjet 60 and could be heard in distressing audio warning air traffic control that the aircraft was coming down
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The Learjet 60 nose-dived into an intersection in disturbing dash cam footage before bursting into flames
Audio from the cockpit captured the young co-pilot attempting to describe the crisis in the Learjet 60 aircraft to air traffic control in the moments before it went down.
She could be heard saying the aircraft had banked 60 degrees, meaning it was flying sideways, and she was noting the altitude changes.
The Daily Mail has chosen not to publish the final seconds of audio, which are extremely distressing.
Filgueiras had also been messaging her fellow pilot boyfriend about facing heavy weather in the minutes before the plane crashed.
Her family told the New York Post that before the crash, Filgueiras texted her boyfriend Justin: ‘I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.’
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) now say they believe severe weather played a ‘significant factor’ in the disaster and that part of the jet appeared to have broken off before the crash – which occurred just eight miles from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club.
The president and Air Force One took off from Palm Beach International Airport just an hour before the crash landing as Trump tried to rally support for Republicans ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Robinson’s friends, Rachel Reed and Charmi Fehr (pictured) were also killed in the crash
The family’s nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina (pictured), was on board. The victims’ families said she will have a ‘legacy of unconditional love and devotion’
Some aviation experts now believe the plane may have fallen foul of ‘coffin corner’ while trying to climb above two storm systems, known as cells.
Coffin corner is a phenomenon whereby the jet’s minimum safe speed and maximum safe speed converge into a very narrow range at high altitude, making it extremely difficult to fly safely.
If the plane goes too slow or fast it will stall and quickly become uncontrollable.
As the NTSB now continues to investigate what caused the plane to fall out of the sky, the victims’ families remembered Adam and Helen as ‘devoted parents’ and that their children ‘were the light of their lives.’
‘Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,’ the families said in a joint statement. ‘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.’
The impact left a massive crater in the middle of the road, damaging nearby infrastructure
The statement continued: ‘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.’
‘On behalf of friends and family, it is with a heavy heart that we share that our dearest Helen was taken from us too soon,’ read a statement from her family.
‘To know Helen was to love her. The number of people grieving Helen and Adam is a testament to how many people were lucky enough to have them in their lives.’