Federal investigators said the $2 million chartered Learjet 60 likely started breaking apart before it slammed into the ground and erupted in a fireball.
Multimillionaire tech executive Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their two toddlers were among the nine people killed in a business jet crash in Florida, United States, earlier this week.
About Those Killed In The Crash
Also aboard were Robinson and Sharp’s friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr and their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina. He was a co-founder of Robly, an email marketing platform, and the founder of Retention.com, which uses technology to connect e-commerce website visitors to their email addresses. Sharp, meanwhile, was a ceramics artist who frequently shared videos of her works on her Instagram, as well as pictures of the couple’s two sweet young children. It added that the family’s nanny, Cetina, “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.
The small jet reportedly did a steep nosedive, crashing outside a mobile home park 11 kilometres southwest of West Palm Beach, leaving a crater behind. Apart from 44-year-old Robinson and Sharp, the victims of the horrifying crash included their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2. The family, in a social media tribute post, said, “Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives. The pilot requested permission to climb another 2,000 feet (610 meters) and then quickly declared an emergency as the jet lost altitude at an alarming rate.
Authorities said weather will be a key initial focus of the investigation, while the National Transportation Safety Board will also examine the actions of the crew and look for any mechanical problems with the plane. Robinson recently told the ProfitLed podcast that he and his family lived in Aspen, Colorado.
Rain pounded the region on Sunday, and one of the pilots told air traffic control about icing conditions at a high altitude.
Weather conditions will be a major focus of the investigation, Chapman said.
