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Tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, their two young children and five other people were killed Sunday when a private jet crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The Learjet 60 was traveling from Austin, Texas, to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas when it went down near Greenacres shortly before 1 p.m. ET, erupting into flames near a residential neighborhood and busy roadway. All nine people aboard the aircraft died.
In a joint statement obtained by Newsweek, the victims’ families confirmed that Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, and three others were among those killed, sharing the news “with broken hearts.”
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The families remembered Adam and Helen as devoted parents, saying their children “were the light of their lives.”
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What Caused the Plane Crash?
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Tom Chapman said investigators had found signs the aircraft was breaking apart before impact, while weather conditions are also a major focus of the investigation.
“We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” Chapman said during a Monday news conference. Investigators said debris could be found some distance from the crash site.
According to air traffic control communications, the pilot reported encountering light clear ice and moderate turbulence while flying at 35,000 feet.
The pilot later reported precipitation and requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet. Air traffic control approved the request, but less than 30 seconds later, the aircraft began rapidly descending and the pilot declared an emergency.
The pilot then declared a mayday as the jet began rapidly losing altitude, eventually telling air traffic controllers: “We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000 feet per minute.”
The pilot also said: “We're going to crash into the ground.”
Investigators are hoping to recover the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder, which could provide additional information about the moments before the crash. The NTSB has said the investigation will take several days.
Newsweek has reached out to the agency for further comment.
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Who Was Adam Robinson?
Robinson, 45, was a technology entrepreneur and the founder/CEO of Retention.com and RB2B, two companies focused on helping businesses identify and connect with website visitors.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he founded Retention.com in January 2020 and said he grew the company to $20 million in annual recurring revenue within 3 1/2 years, without outside funding.
He also co-founded Robly, an email marketing company, in 2012. Robinson served as its CEO until February 2020 and later as president.
Before entering the technology industry, Robinson worked as a credit trader at Lehman Brothers from 2003 to 2008 and Barclays Capital from 2008 to 2011.
In June 2026, he launched another venture, MoltSets, which focused on providing contact data application programming interfaces for artificial intelligence agents.
Robinson and his family lived in Aspen, Colorado, which he described as a longtime dream. In a recent interview on the ProfitLed podcast, he spoke about enjoying a life that allowed him to spend time with his children and his wife to pursue her work as an artist.
“I feel like I'm living the dream,” Robinson 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.
Robinson was traveling with his wife, Sharp, their two young children, family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and the family's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina.
In the joint statement, the families described Adam and Helen as “the love affair that will last forever,” adding that their warmth, generosity and ability to make others feel welcome touched many lives.
Who Are Dudley and Helen Sharp?
Dudley Sharp, 70, confirmed that his daughter and family were aboard the plane. “We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane,” Sharp told The Palm Beach Post. “It's quite a blow.”
Helen, 40, was a potter and the owner of a public relations company, according to the newspaper. She started a ceramics company and recently moved to Aspen, according to her business website.
In the ProfitLed podcast interview, Robinson described his wife as a full-time artist and said he was happy she could pursue her work while they raised their children in Aspen.
What We Know About the Other Victims
The joint family statement also identified Reed, Fehr and Cetina among those killed in the crash.
It described Reed and Fehr as “full of joy and adventure,” adding that they loved their friends and family deeply and were building a life together.
Cetina cared for Emma and Charlie and was “truly part of the family,” according to the statement.
The co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, was also killed. Her mother, Camila Corteleti, identified her as one of the pilots aboard the Learjet.
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Filgueiras earned her pilot's license in 2023 while she was a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School. The Palm Beach County School District paid for her license through the school's specialized aviation academy, where students practice flying using simulators and drones. Her pilot's license showed she had the rating to fly the Learjet model involved in the crash but not to serve as pilot in command.
The identity of the other pilot had not been immediately disclosed.
Video Shows Crater Left in Road After Crash
Video from the scene showed the aircraft banking sharply to the right before crashing and erupting into a fireball. The impact left a crater in the roadway and scattered debris near the residential area.
A driver near the crash site suffered leg injuries, Chapman said. Authorities also established a shelter for residents of nearly 80 mobile homes near the scene as investigators worked at the site. County officials said they did not know when residents would be able to return to their homes.
The NTSB is leading the investigation, with the Federal Aviation Administration assisting, the latter agency told Newsweek.
According to the families' statement, details on memorial services will be announced once arrangements have been made.
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Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Anna Commander and Edward T. Cummins
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