Former Edmond Resident Among 9 Killed in Florida Jet Crash

Rachael Reed, a 2007 graduate of Edmond Santa Fe High School and a 2013 nursing graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma, was one of nine people killed when a Bahamas-bound business jet fell from the sky and exploded in a residential area of Greenacres, Florida, about 7 miles southwest of West Palm Beach, KOCO reported. Her partner, Charmi Fehr, died in the same crash, and the loss has rippled from Reed’s old high school classroom in Edmond to the University of Central Oklahoma, where she trained as a nurse and later worked at Advanced Aesthetics in Oklahoma City.

The crash matters beyond the nine lives it took because federal investigators have already signaled that something failed in the air: National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said Monday that parts of the jet appear to have broken off before impact, and weather — specifically ice conditions amid rain reported by one of the pilots to air traffic control — will be a major focus of the investigation.

Former Oklahoma resident among 9 killed in Florida jet crash

Williams: She Made the Class Better

Edmond Santa Fe High School teacher K.C. Williams, who taught for 35 years, said Reed was one of the few students who stuck with him. “Thirty-five years of teaching. I don’t know how many students have passed through this class, but she was the type of student that stood out,” Williams said. “She made the class better.” When a former classmate reached out on social media to tell him Reed had been on the plane, Williams said the news hit him as surreal and heartbreaking. “It’s a missing piece of the puzzle. I feel very confident heaven gained an angel,” he said.

From Edmond Classrooms to UCO’s Nursing Program

Reed’s path ran from Santa Fe’s halls to UCO, where she graduated from the nursing program in 2013 and where, years later, University of Central Oklahoma President Todd Lamb would speak for the university community. “On behalf of the Broncho family, I extend our deepest condolences to Rachael’s family and friends. We are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” Lamb said. After graduation she worked at Advanced Aesthetics in Oklahoma City, which paid tribute to her on social media: “Rachael had an endless curiosity about life and a fearless spirit. She was never afraid to ask questions, try something new, or take on a challenge. She embraced life fully and on her own terms.” Williams echoed that portrait: “She would take a chance. She would travel the world, and you know, she just made people better.”

Former Edmond Resident Among 9 Killed in Florida Jet Crash — Photo: globalincidenttracker.com

What Investigators Know So Far

The jet was traveling from Austin to the Bahamas when it crashed Sunday. Chapman said at a Monday news conference, “We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” adding that investigators may find aircraft parts some distance from the impact site. Weather will be a major focus, he said, noting one pilot had told air traffic control about ice conditions amid rain in the region. Global Incident Tracker, which logged the incident as a moderate-severity air crash, recorded that no rainfall was measured that day at the reference station and temperatures peaked at 21 degrees — a detail that sits alongside, and does not resolve, the in-flight icing report. The families of the dead said Reed and Fehr “loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation.”

The Question Still Open

What brought the jet down remains unknown. The NTSB has pointed to possible in-flight breakup and weather, but no cause has been determined, and the investigation will take months. For now, the people who knew Reed in Edmond are left holding classroom memories — and a question the federal investigators have not yet answered.