Lenny Kravitz shuts down rumour he died in Florida Learjet crash
· Toronto Sun
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A rep for Lenny Kravitz is debunking a viral rumour that the musician was one of the victims who perished in a deadly plane crash Sunday .
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According to the New York Post , whispers that the rocker was aboard the doomed Learjet travelling from Texas to the Bahamas began after Emily Shelton, who was mistakenly identified as the flight’s co-pilot, posted that she would be flying Kravitz.
“Honoured to be flying the one and only Lenny Kravitz from [Austin-Bergstrom International Airport] to [North Eleuthera Airport, Bahamas] tomorrow. Looking forward to having him on board,” a screenshot of Shelton’s post read .
“ It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over is gonna be playing in the cockpit.”
As speculation swirled that Kravitz was among the nine passengers who died when the Learjet 60 nose-dived into the ground in Palm Beach, Fla., a rep for the Grammy winner said he was alive and well.
“The reports are untrue and incorrect,” Kravitz’s publicist told BocaNewsNow .
While Kravitz was not aboard the aircraft, investigators continue to piece together what happened during the fatal flight.
Shelton also clarified she wasn’t on the flight either and that the co-pilot heard speaking on a terrifying call before the tragedy was 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras , who obtained her pilot license while she was still in high school.
“I was recently made aware that there are rumours that I was the pilot of the recent crash in Palm Beach,” Shelton wrote on TikTok .
“I would like to respectfully clarify I was not. I ask that people please stop speculating and spreading misinformation on this tragedy and be respectful of those involved. My heart goes out to all those lost and affected.”
Filgueiras had logged more than 1,300 hours of flight time and received her pilot’s license at 17, the New York Times reported.
Her mother, Camila Corteleti, told the outlet that her daughter told her parents she wanted to be a pilot when she was 12 years old.
“She loved the freedom,” Corteleti said. “It was completely different seeing the world from the top.”
Jet was carrying Texas family and friends
The plane’s passengers included Texas-based technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their two children, Emma and Charlie. The kids’ nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, was also among the victims, along with another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
The pilot has been identified as Jeff Gregory.
In a statement shared by their families with various media outlets and posted to Facebook , Adam and Helen were referred to as “ devoted parents .”
“With broken hearts, our families share that Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, and Anita Maria Cetina were among those lost aboard the flight that went down near Greenacres, Florida, on November 1,” their families said in a joint statement.
“Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were the light of their lives. Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever. 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 message went on to say “Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure,” and Anita loved Emma and Charlie “with tenderness and devotion.”
Speaking to air traffic controllers in Miami, Filgueiras said the plane was experiencing moderate turbulence and icing and asked to climb to avoid a storm. But in a harrowing minute-long call, she reported a rapid descent, transmitting over the radio the aircraft had spiralled into “overspeed condition.”
“722 Bravo Delta, we’re descending 8,000 Mayday, Mayday, we’re descending 10,000 ft per minute,” Filgueiras could be heard saying. “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Filgueiras reportedly texted her boyfriend right before the catastrophe started to unfold.
“She texted her boyfriend, I think, at 12:40 p.m. and the accident was at 12:50 p.m.,” Filgueiras’ stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, told the New York Post .
NASA chief Jared Isaacman defended Filgueiras, saying in a tweet that she “was doing her job, communicating with A.T.C. right to the end in a terrifying situation.”
“She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die. I have heard final calls from friends, from military pilots with thousands of hours in fighter aircraft, and they are just as heartbreaking because they know the end is approaching,” he wrote.