The Learjet pilot heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer moments before the fatal Florida crash was a devoted Christian who “went home to be with the Lord,” his church said.
Captain Jeff Gregory, 55, was a married father of three and a dedicated member of Limerick Chapel in Pennsylvania. Both of his parents had worked at the church, close friend David Peters told the Sun.
The church informed congregants by email that Gregory was among the nine people confirmed dead in Sunday’s devastating crash.
“Jeff went home to be with the Lord when the plane he was flying crashed,” the church said in its message.
Gregory’s faith was evident during the jet’s final moments, after the private aircraft plunged 27,000 feet in roughly one minute before erupting into flames near a mobile home community.
Audio transmissions captured Gregory reciting the Lord’s Prayer while his 20-year-old co-pilot, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, screamed that they were going to die.
Gregory had dreamed of becoming a pilot since childhood and “loved wearing his leather bomber jacket,” Peters said. The former neighbor described him as “very diligent and dependable.”
“I know he worked hard to become a pilot, and it was something he truly loved and poured his life and heart into,” Peters told the Sun.
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Gregory is survived by his wife, Cheryl, 53, and their three children.
The plane was headed to the Bahamas when it nose-dived Sunday afternoon near the Florida community of Greenacres, carving a fiery crater into the middle of a street.
The other victims were identified as multimillionaire technology executive Adam Robinson, 44; his wife, Helen Sharp; and their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. Robinson’s brother confirmed their identities Monday.
Friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, along with nanny Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, were also aboard the aircraft.
Federal investigators have not yet determined what caused the crash.
Authorities said Monday that the aircraft was flying through temperatures near minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, began accumulating ice and encountered severe turbulence.
The jet began breaking apart before impact, sending debris across an area spanning roughly half a mile, the National Transportation Safety Board said at a press conference.
Investigators also have not established whether the Learjet was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, commonly known as a black box, or whether the device survived the crash.