MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — The pilot who captained the Lear Jet that crashed and killed nine people in Florida was from Montgomery County, according to multiple sources.
Jeff Gregory, 55, of Gilbertsville, was identified as the pilot who was flying the private jet when it crashed into the ground on Sunday, according to FAA records and his former employer, Fox 29 reported.
The crash killed Gregory, his co-pilot, a Texas family, their nanny and two friends on Sunday afternoon in Palm Beach County.
Gregory was married and a father of three, the New York Post reported. He was was a devoted member of the Limerick Chapel, that report said.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the cause of the crash that made the Learjet 60 descend at a high speed in minutes after the co-pilot radioed about precipitation from a storm.
The business jet departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas at 10:37 a.m. Sunday, headed for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, with two crew members and seven passengers aboard.
Federal investigators said they have evidence that the plane may have broken apart midair before crashing, as they began examining the wreckage and investigating weather conditions reported by the flight crew.
According to the NTSB's preliminary timeline, the crew reported "encountering white, clear ice, which was manageable, and also moderate turbulence," at 12:47 p.m., authorities said.
Investigators are also working to determine whether the aircraft had a cockpit voice recorder.
Though authorities haven't released the names of those killed in the fiery crash, family members told the New York Post that 44-year-old multimillionaire tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their two toddler children were on the Learjet 60 that plunged and crashed in Greenacres. The couple's nanny Anita Maria Apellido Cetina and two friends, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr were also on the deadly flight.
The aircraft was flying at 35,000 feet, and the crew reported altitude deviations of about 700 feet, as well as an outside temperature of -47 degrees Celsius, or minus -53 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shortly afterward, the pilots transmitted, "We are picking up precipitation, requesting to climb to 37,000 feet if able," which the Federal Aviation Authority Air Traffic Control approved, according to Chapman.
Less than 30 seconds later, the aircraft began descending, followed by a mayday call, he said.
At about 12:48 p.m., the crew radioed to air traffic controllers, "We are in an overspeed condition, descending," with the remainder of their transmission "unintelligible," Chapman said.
The pilot's distress communications, including reports of descending at up to 20,000 feet per minute, were also captured in air traffic control recordings.
With reporting by Patch's Tiffany Razzano and The Associated Press
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