“OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN…” — FRIENDS BELIEVE A FINAL PRAYER HEARD IN THE DEADLY LEARJET CRASH WAS SPOKEN BY CAPTAIN JEFF GREGORY, 55

GILBERTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA — In the final radio transmissions from a Learjet 60 plunging toward the ground in Florida, a man’s voice can be heard reciting words from the Lord’s Prayer.

For friends of Captain Jeff Gregory, the sound is deeply personal.

They believe the voice belongs to the 55-year-old pilot — a devoted Christian, loving husband and father whose faith had been part of his life long before his final flight.

John Goldfuss, who attended Bob Jones University with Gregory, said he had “no doubt” that the voice was his friend’s.

The voice has not been officially identified, however, and investigators have not publicly confirmed who was speaking.

For those who knew Jeff, the possibility carries a heartbreaking significance: in what may have been his final moments, they believe he turned to the prayer that had guided his life.

A PASSION FOR FLYING THAT BEGAN WHEN HE WAS YOUNG

Gregory lived in Gilbertsville, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with his wife and children.

His love of aviation began early. A former neighbor recalled that Jeff had dreamed of becoming a pilot for years.

He eventually turned that childhood dream into a career, spending decades in aviation.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, Gregory obtained his Airline Transport Pilot certificate in 2021 and was qualified to fly multiple Learjet models. In April 2025, he also became a certified flight instructor for single-engine and multiengine aircraft.

He had previously worked for East Coast Jets, an Allentown-based private aviation company, from 2016 to 2017.

But those who remembered him say his identity went far beyond his profession.

He was a family man, a friend and someone whose Christian faith was deeply important to him.

THE FAITH THAT SHAPED HIS LIFE

Gregory grew up attending Limerick Chapel in Pennsylvania, where his parents worked.

A pastor at the church remembered him as someone beloved by the community.

His friend and colleague Thomas Noetzel, director of operations at Upper Jets, also spoke about the kind of person Jeff was.

Noetzel described him as a close personal friend and wrote that knowing him had made him a better person.

In a tribute shared by Noetzel’s father, Walter, Gregory was remembered as a devoted, conscientious and deeply faithful man who loved flying and had a strong love for the Lord.

That description has taken on a particularly emotional meaning following the release of the final radio transmissions.

THE FLIGHT THAT NEVER REACHED ITS DESTINATION

On Sunday, November 1, 2026, Gregory was serving as captain aboard Learjet 60 N722BD.

The aircraft departed Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.

Beside him in the cockpit was 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras. Seven passengers were also aboard.

As the aircraft traveled over South Florida, the crew reported encountering icing conditions and turbulence. The pilots requested a climb as conditions deteriorated.

The situation quickly became critical.

Radio communications captured the co-pilot reporting the aircraft’s rapidly changing altitude and severe difficulties before the plane lost control and crashed near Greenacres in Palm Beach County.

All nine people aboard were killed.

THE DISCOVERY THAT SHOWED THE AIRCRAFT WAS BREAKING APART

The National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the crash.

Investigators later recovered pieces of the aircraft’s tail, including parts of its elevator, several miles from the impact site.

The discovery indicated that the aircraft had begun breaking apart before hitting the ground.

In an update published November 8, the NTSB said investigators had recovered components from the wings, engines, flight deck, vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and other aircraft structures. Some pieces were sent to laboratories in Washington, D.C., for further examination.

The investigation remains ongoing, and the exact cause of the crash has not been determined.

The evidence may help explain what happened to the aircraft, but it cannot answer the questions that matter most to the families who lost someone they loved.

A FUNDRAISER FOR THE FAMILY HE LEFT BEHIND

After Gregory’s death, Thomas Noetzel organized a GoFundMe campaign to support his grieving family.

The fundraiser is intended to help his wife and children with living expenses and provide support for his young daughters’ education.

Noetzel’s message was simple but powerful: Jeff was not just a colleague. He was a personal friend whose life had made a lasting difference.

The campaign has brought together people who want to help the family face the difficult days and years ahead without their husband and father.

A PRAYER HIS FRIENDS WILL NEVER FORGET

Investigators may eventually determine what caused the Learjet to fall from the sky.

They may reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments and establish how the tragedy unfolded.

But for the people who loved Jeff Gregory, the sound of that prayer has already become something deeply meaningful.

They believe the voice was his. They believe it reflected the faith he had carried throughout his life.

That belief remains unconfirmed, but it offers his friends a powerful way to remember the man they knew.

Captain Jeff Gregory was 55 years old. He was a pilot who followed his childhood dream, a husband, a father and a man remembered for his devotion to God.

His final flight ended in tragedy, but the love he gave his family and the memories he left with his friends will endure.

May Jeff Gregory rest in peace. May his wife, children and everyone who loved him find comfort and strength in the days ahead.

And may the prayer his friends believe they heard be remembered not only as a moment of fear, but as a reflection of a faith that remained close to his heart. 🙏🕊️