NFL star Joe Mixon announced Monday that he had previously flown on the private jet that crashed into the ground and burst into flames in Palm Beach County, Florida, killing all nine people aboard.
Mixon, who last played for the Houston Texans in the 2025 season, shared his experience in a post to X, formerly Twitter. He wrote that he was "absolutely devastated" by the crash of the Bahamas-bound Learjet 60, which took off from Texas before plummeting to the ground.
Investigators are focusing on the stormy weather in the area as a potential cause for the crash, according to officials.
Mixon revealed he had flown on the jet last month with the same two pilots who died in the incident. One of the pilots was 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, a Palm Beach County native who had long aspired to be a pilot. The other pilot was Jeff Gregory, 55, according to a statement from his former employer, East Coast Jets.
"They were incredible professionals and genuinely wonderful people," Mixon wrote of the pilots. "Hearing the young woman’s story and learning about the bright future she had ahead of her makes it even more heartbreaking that her life was cut so short."
He added, "My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to the grieving families and loved ones of everyone on board. A tragic reminder of how fragile life is. Love on your loved ones while you can, because you never know what tomorrow may bring."
The passengers on board included tech executive Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, their two young children, their nanny Anita Maria Cetina, and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr. Families of the passengers released a statement describing Robinson and Sharp as devoted parents and Cetina for her "tenderness and devotion" to the children. Reed and Fehr were remembered as being "full of joy and adventure."