Montgomery County man was pilot of Learjet that crashed in Florida

Nine people are dead and about 600 nearby residents remain displaced across South Florida after a private business jet broke apart mid-flight and slammed into the ground in Greenacres, just southwest of West Palm Beach. The Learjet 60, which had been traveling from Texas to the Bahamas, plunged in a steep nosedive that left behind a crater and a wide debris field, and a thick plume of black smoke as rain pounded the area.

Federal investigators are now left piecing together the final moments of a flight that ended in tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board, working alongside the Federal Aviation Administration, suspects the aircraft was already coming apart before it impacted the ground and erupted into a fireball.

The Pilot From Montgomery County

At the controls of the doomed jet was 55-year-old Jeffrey Gregory of Gilbertsville, Montgomery County. Federal Aviation Administration files indicate that Gregory secured his transport pilot’s license in 2021 and held certifications to operate various Learjet variants. In April 2025, he became a certified flight instructor for single-engine and multiengine aircraft.

Before his recent aviation work, Gregory worked at East Coast Jets, an Allentown-based private jet charter company. In a statement provided to multiple news outlets, the company confirmed he worked there from 2016 to 2017, expressing condolences for what it termed a heartbreaking tragedy. Friends and former neighbors recalled a man who grew up with parents working at Limerick Chapel in Pennsylvania and harbored a dream of flying, remembering him online as a loving father, husband, and aerophile.

During the plane’s final descent, a male voice was captured on audio transmissions reciting the Lord’s Prayer. John Goldfuss, who attended Bob Jones University with Gregory, stated on Facebook that he had no doubt the voice belonged to Gregory.

Thomas Noetzel, director of operations at Upper Jets, the company that operated the flight, remembered Gregory as a close, personal friend. “Knowing him has made me a better person,” Noetzel wrote on a GoFundMe page he organized to support Gregory’s wife and children, which had raised over $6,000 as of publication time.

Jeff was a devoted, conscientious, and deeply faithful man who had a genuine passion for flying and a strong love for the Lord. His journey on earth may have ended, but I like to think he is now flying among the angels, soaring peacefully in the presence of our Lord. — Walter Noetzel

A Flight Marked by Tragedy

Aboard the jet alongside Gregory was 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who made the final radio transmissions. Among those traveling on the aircraft were tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his spouse Helen Sharp, their young offspring Emma and Charlie, the household nanny Anita Maria Cetina, alongside the couple Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.

Authorities report that one injury was reported on the ground. As investigators zero in on weather conditions as an initial focus, they are also examining the actions of the crew and potential mechanical problems with the plane.

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