The deadly business jet crash in Florida has some wealthy travelers rethinking the appeal of flying private.
Jason Calacanis, a tech investor and co-host of the “All-In Podcast,” said he’s done flying on Learjet 60s after one plunged from the sky into a Palm Beach County neighborhood on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard.
“Never getting in a Lear 60 again,” Calacanis wrote Tuesday in a post on X, adding that he plans to fly commercial instead.
“And with commercial being 10x cheaper and 10x safer, I’m only flying the big iron from the majors,” wrote Calacanis.
Fatal crashes involving private charter aircraft are generally more frequent than those involving commercial airlines, but they remain rare. According to National Transportation Safety Board data, on-demand charter airplanes were involved in two fatal accidents in 2024, representing 0.06 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours. Scheduled commercial airlines recorded no fatal accidents that year. (The charter category includes private jets as well as smaller aircraft.)
Calacanis also questioned whether flying private is even worth it, saying, “What’s the point of saving two hours on average when you have starlink on 50% of @united flight already.”
Calacanis ended his post with: “See you in the lounge besties.”
Texas tech founder Adam Robinson, his wife, and their two young children were among those killed when the Bahamas-bound Learjet they were flying on over the weekend went down.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Pilots on board reported a buildup of ice and turbulence shortly before the jet nosedived.
Seattle-based tech investor Ben Sharpe replied to Calacanis’ post, saying he was “thinking the same” about private travel.
“Flying private saves you at most a few hours, costs $50-80k more and has considerably higher chance of failure over commercial airplanes,” Sharpe wrote.
“Had the family opted to fly commercial, they would have been at a restaurant or airport lounge on a layover to Bahamas and alive,” he said. “The risk of death flying commercial is essentially zero.”
Adam Singer, a marketing executive at the platform AdQuick, said in a Monday X post that he “lost a good friend in a private jet accident” and encouraged everyone to fly commercial whenever possible.
“Statistically, it’s much safer,” Singer said. “I know private jets are convenient, but unless you have a good reason, take the big plane, fly with the people.”
