Helen Sharp, Ceramic Artist Killed in South Florida Learjet 60 Crash, Drew on Years in Arizona for Her Work
Why It MattersA Learjet 60 breakup in flight puts the safety record of an ageing light-jet type under scrutiny, which tends to draw attention to maintenance and airworthiness oversight across older business-jet fleets.
Helen Sharp, 40, one of the victims of the Nov. 1 business jet crash in Palm Beach County, South Florida, drew on her years in southern Arizona in her ceramic art, according to her social media posts. Family members said Sharp, her husband Adam Robinson, 45, and their two children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were among those killed. The Learjet 60, which departed Austin, Texas, bound for the Bahamas, crashed at around 12:50 p.m. with nine people on board. In a joint statement on Nov. 2, family members also identified the family's nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and another couple, Rachel Reed and Cha…
Sharp grew up in Houston and attended the University of Arizona between 2004 and 2008, according to university spokesperson Nick Prevenas and her LinkedIn profile. She received a Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary studies in May 2009; spokesperson Michael Chesnick said she took classes in classics, anthropology and art history. She volunteered with the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind and Habitat for Humanity, and the university's School of Art posted condolences on Nov. 3. Sharp owned a ceramic studio in Aspen, Colorado, and founded the communications agency Influential PR in 2019.
The families asked for privacy. They described Cetina as having "cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion" and as "truly part of the family," and described Reed and Fehr as people "full of joy and adventure." The families also said their hearts were with the families of the pilots.
Video captured the jet nosediving into the ground near a busy roadway before erupting in flames. The cause of the crash has not been determined, according to National Transportation Safety Board member Thomas Chapman. At a Nov. 3 press conference, Chapman said pieces of the aircraft were found nearly 4 miles from the crash site, which he called a "very significant bit of evidence" suggesting the plane was breaking up before crashing. The investigation is ongoing.
