Florida Learjet Crash Pilot Remembered as Husband, Father, Christian

The pilot of the Florida business jet crash that claimed the lives of all nine people aboard was a veteran aviator, husband and father from suburban Philadelphia, according to a colleague who launched an online fundraiser for his family and posts shared by those who knew him.

Jeff Gregory, 55, was one of two crew members flying the Learjet 60 toward the Bahamas when the aircraft encountered severe weather Sunday afternoon and crashed in Greenacres, roughly 7 miles (11 kilometers) southwest of West Palm Beach.

During the copilot’s final radio exchanges with air traffic controllers, a man could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Friends believe the voice belonged to Gregory, whom they described as a deeply religious Christian.

A federal investigator said Monday that the aircraft may have begun losing parts before hitting the ground. Copilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, reported that ice was building up on the jet and that intense turbulence had pushed it up and down by more than 700 feet (210 meters).

“We’re going to die!” she screamed moments before the jet struck the ground and burst into flames.

Thomas Noetzel, operations director for Upper Jets, the company that operated the flight, set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Gregory’s wife and children.

Noetzel described Gregory as a close personal friend, writing on the fundraising page that knowing him “has made me a better person.”

Walter Noetzel, Thomas Noetzel’s father, remembered Gregory in a Facebook post as “a devoted, conscientious, and deeply faithful man” with a sincere love of aviation and strong religious faith. “His journey on earth may have ended, but I like to think he is now flying among the angels, soaring peacefully in the presence of our Lord,” he wrote.

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Federal Aviation Administration records show that Gregory held certificates as an airline transport pilot and flight instructor. He lived in Gilbertsville, approximately 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, and had earlier worked for a charter operator in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“We are deeply saddened to learn that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives,” said April Honnen, charter sales director at East Coast Jets Inc., where Gregory worked in 2016 and 2017. “Our prayers go out to Jeff’s family, his fellow crew member, the passengers and everyone affected by this heartbreaking tragedy.”

The Learjet slammed into the ground with such force that it left a crater before igniting. Debris from the aircraft was spread across a wide area.

Images captured shortly before impact appear to show that the plane’s horizontal stabilizer was no longer attached to its tail.

All nine passengers and crew members aboard the flight from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas died. Relatives said the victims included technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their two young children.

Approximately 600 people living nearby remained displaced after the crash, though authorities reported only one injury on the ground.

Weather conditions will be a central part of the investigation, said Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency is expected to issue a preliminary report in about a month, but determining the official cause of the crash could take more than a year.