Montgomery County pilot among nine killed in Florida Learjet crash

A 55-year-old pilot from Gilbertsville, Montgomery County, was at the controls of a business jet that crashed Sunday afternoon in Greenacres, Florida, killing all nine people on board, according to Spotlight PA, NBC10 and 6abc.

Jeff Gregory, identified by CBS Philadelphia as Capt. Jeffrey Gregory, was one of two crew members on the Learjet 60. The flight had departed Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas when it ran into bad weather. Greenacres is about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach. CBS Philadelphia reported the jet nose-dived and came down near a mobile home park.

The outlets described Gregory as a longtime aviator, husband and father. Federal Aviation Administration records show he held airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates, Spotlight PA reported. He worked in 2016 and 2017 for East Coast Jets, an Allentown-based charter company.

"We are deeply saddened to learn that Captain Jeff Gregory was among those who lost their lives," said April Honnen, the company's director of charter sales, according to NBC10.

Thomas Noetzel, director of operations at Upper Jets, the company that operated the flight, started a GoFundMe campaign for Gregory's wife and children. Noetzel wrote that Gregory was a close friend and that "knowing him has made me a better person," 6abc reported.

The co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, told air traffic controllers that ice was building up on the aircraft and that severe turbulence had moved it up and down by more than 700 feet, according to Spotlight PA. A man's voice reciting the Lord's Prayer can be heard behind her final radio transmissions, and friends believe it was Gregory, who they described as a devout Christian. CBS Philadelphia reported that Gregory himself told controllers he was managing the ice before distress calls were made.

Filgueiras' stepfather told the New York Post that she texted her boyfriend roughly 10 minutes before the crash to say she was dealing with turbulence and ice, the outlets reported.

A federal investigator said Monday that parts of the jet likely began breaking away before it hit the ground. Images taken just before impact appear to show the horizontal stabilizer missing from the tail, according to NBC10. The crash left a crater, started a fire and spread debris over a wide area. About 600 nearby residents remain displaced, and one person on the ground was reported injured.

Relatives said the victims included technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their two young children.

National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said weather would be a central focus of the investigation. A preliminary report is expected in about a month, though determining a cause will likely take more than a year.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Spotlight PA, 6abc Action News, CBS Philadelphia and NBC10 Philadelphia. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/730