A 20-year-old woman who had been a licensed pilot since she was a teenager and a technology entrepreneur and his family were among nine people killed when a small jet crashed and exploded in South Florida, family members said.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was the copilot flying a Learjet from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, on Sunday when it crashed and exploded near West Palm Beach, her mother Camila Corteleti told the New York Post and New York Times.
Filgueiras earned her license in 2023 when she was a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School, according to local news reports at the time.
The crash also killed Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their children, 4-year-old Emma and 2-year-old Charlie, according to a statement from the families of the seven passengers. Anita Maria Cetina, who helped care for the children, also died.
Two more victims were identified as Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr. The identity of the other pilot was not immediately disclosed.
Robinson built tech companies
"Our hearts are also with the families of the pilots, who are grieving alongside us," the families of the seven said.
Robinson recently told the ProfitLed podcast that he and his family lived in Aspen, Colorado. He was a co-founder of Robly, an email marketing platform, and founder of Retention.com, which uses technology to connect e-commerce website visitors to their email addresses.
“I feel like I’m living the dream,” Robinson, 45, said.
“I love the fact that I get to see my kids in the morning and the evening, and I don’t have to travel for work that much, and I get to live in this place that’s always been my dream,” he said. “And my wife is super happy because she can be a full-time artist."
Robinson was known in Austin, Texas, where Retention.com was based. It's the second time this year that Austin has lost a tech entrepreneur in a plane crash, following the June death of Joshua Baer, who led a venture capital firm that supported tech startups.
"Adam was part of the entrepreneurial fabric of Austin," said Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, which promotes the local industry.
Pilot joked about her youth and skills
Filgueiras' pilot's license showed she had the rating to fly the jet but not to be in command of the flight.
The Palm Beach County School District paid for her license as part of the high school’s specialized aviation academy, in which students practice flying on simulators and drones.
“Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car,” Filgueiras told WPEC-TV in 2023. “I think it’s funny.”
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