Tech tycoon’s heartfelt post about spending time with family goes viral as new details emerge of Florida trip that ended in tragic plane crash
A tech mogul who tragically died when the business jet carrying him, his family and his children’s nanny plummeted to the ground on Sunday once posted about the importance of spending time with loved ones.
Adam Robinson, 45, the founder of tech startup Retention, was onboard a Learjet 60 twin-engine plane with his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, and their toddlers, Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when it crashed in a fiery ball near West Palm Beach, Florida.
The family of four had been traveling from their home in Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas with their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, when the tragedy occurred, killing all nine people onboard.
As their loved ones now grapple with the family’s death, a post Robinson made back in April has re-emerged in which he shared how he once worked on Wall Street.
‘People my age now (45) said they were working 70, 80, 90 hours a week for their families… but all their families actually wanted was their presence,’ he wrote.
‘They didn’t understand why their families resented how much they worked when they lived in a nice house and their kids went to private schools.’
‘I decided early in my startup journey that wasn’t going to be me,’ Robinson declared.
He went on to say he and his co-founders at Retention decided to implement a policy of ‘quitting’ at 5 or 5.30pm, at which point they would shut off their laptops, stop discussing work and go home to their families.
Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife Helen Sharp, 40, were onboard a Learjet 60 alongside their toddlers Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when it crashed in Florida on Sunday
The Learjet 60 nose-dived into an intersection in disturbing dash cam footage before bursting into flames
Oftentimes, Robinson said he would get out even earlier if he wanted to do something with his children.
‘My family life gives me energy for my work. My work gives me energy for my family life,’ he posted.
It has since been revealed that the family, their friends and their children’s nanny were traveling to the Bahamas to celebrate Robinson’s birthday, TMZ reports.
But when the business jet was heading east over Florida at 35,000 feet, the flight’s co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras could be heard warning air traffic control that the aircraft was coming down.
‘Descending 20,000ft per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground,’ the co-pilot said, as her pilot, Jeff Gregory, 55, could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the background.
Audio from the cockpit captured the young co-pilot attempting to describe the crisis in the Learjet 60 aircraft to air traffic control in the moments before it went down.
She could be heard saying the aircraft had banked 60 degrees, meaning it was flying sideways, and she was noting the altitude changes.
The Daily Mail has chosen not to publish the final seconds of audio, which are extremely distressing.
Robinson once posted on social media how he made it a priority at his startup to spend time with his families. Source: Helen Robinson / Facebook
Couple Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr (pictured) were also killed in the crash
The family’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina (pictured), was also on board
Filgueiras had also been messaging her fellow pilot boyfriend about facing heavy weather in the minutes before the plane crashed.
Her family told the New York Post that before the crash, Filgueiras texted her boyfriend Justin: ‘I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.’
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) now say they believe severe weather played a ‘significant factor’ in the disaster and that part of the jet appeared to have broken off before the crash – which occurred just eight miles from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club.
The president and Air Force One took off from Palm Beach International Airport just an hour before the crash landing as Trump tried to rally support for Republicans ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The impact left debris scattered across a significant distance and a massive crater in the road, but authorities said nobody on the ground was injured or killed in the crash.
Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was heard warning air traffic control of the imminent disaster moments before the jet crash landed
The impact left a massive crater in the middle of the road, damaging nearby infrastructure
Some aviation experts now believe the plane may have fallen foul of ‘coffin corner’ while trying to climb above two storm systems, known as cells.
Coffin corner is a phenomenon whereby the jet’s minimum safe speed and maximum safe speed converge into a very narrow range at high altitude, making it extremely difficult to fly safely.
If the plane goes too slow or fast it will stall and quickly become uncontrollable.
As the NTSB now continues to investigate what caused the plane to fall out of the sky, the victims’ families remembered Adam and Helen as ‘devoted parents’ and that their children ‘were the light of their lives.’
‘Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,’ the families said in a joint statement. ‘Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and who they loved in return.’
The statement continued: ‘Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure. They loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation. From the moment they met, they were all in on each other and the life they were building. They are deeply loved, and we will miss them endlessly.
‘Anita Maria 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.’
‘On behalf of friends and family, it is with a heavy heart that we share that our dearest Helen was taken from us too soon,’ read a statement from her family.
‘To know Helen was to love her. The number of people grieving Helen and Adam is a testament to how many people were lucky enough to have them in their lives.’
