Passengers sister on Florida Learjet plane reveals harrowing details of final moments as GoFundMe launched
The sister of a 24-year-old nanny killed in a Florida Learjet crash has described their final video call, which took place shortly before the aircraft took off for the Bahamas.
Anita Ramirez Cetina contacted her sister, Angie Ramirez Cetina, before boarding the private jet on November 1.
During the call, she showed Angie the children she cared for and the plane she was about to travel on.
The Learjet 60 later crashed in Palm Beach County, killing all nine people on board.
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Seven passengers and two crew were aboard. Angie has since spoken about the call and her disbelief when she realized her sister could have been among those involved, per The US Sun.
"We did a video call, she showed me the children, she showed me the plane," Angie told the outlet.
She said Anita had been excited about the trip, as she had never visited the Bahamas. Although she was traveling as part of her job, Angie said her sister did not feel as though the journey was simply work.
"She was very happy. She was truly happy because she had never been to the Bahamas, and even though she was working, she didn't see it as work. She enjoyed it," Angie said.
Anita Ramirez Cetina's life before the Florida Learjet crash
Anita was 24 and weeks away from her 25th birthday when she died in the November 1 crash.
Originally from Colombia, she was a biomedical engineer and had moved to the US two years earlier.
She worked as a nanny for technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson and his wife, Helen Sharp, caring for their children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two.
Angie said her sister adored the family and was happy in her role. The trip to the Bahamas was planned to mark Robinson's birthday.
Robinson founded software companies Retention.com, MoltsSets and RB2B. His wife and children were also killed, alongside the couple's friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
The aircraft had departed from Austin, Texas, and was heading to the Bahamas when it came down near a mobile home park in Florida. Pilot Jeffrey Gregory, 55, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, were also killed.
Dashcam footage captured the Learjet descending rapidly from around 8,000 feet before hitting the ground. The aircraft burst into flames on impact.
For Angie, seeing the flight's path did not make the loss feel real.
She she had seen the accident and the aircraft's route, but struggled to accept that her sister might have been on board.
"I saw the accident, I saw the flight path, and truthfully, I didn't want to accept that it might be my sister on the plane," she said.
There has now been a GoFundMe set up to help the family in this difficult time.
Topics: US News
Thomas Bamford
