Was Alexandra Dudgeon named as the pilot of the plane that crashed in Palm Beach County, Fla., in November 2026? No, that's not true: Dudgeon said on her LinkedIn account that she was not involved in the accident, and her mother, Cara Mason, said the same. Lead Stories found no matching reports from established news outlets that she was aboard the Learjet that went down in Greenacres, Fla., and news reports identified all nine victims, none of whom was Dudgeon.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) by the @eleguuav account on Instagram on Nov. 1, 2026. Translated from Spanish, it read:
The pilot of the jet N722BD that crashed in Greenacres, Florida was identified as Alexandra Dudgeon, 26 years old
Alexandra had the jet as her cover photo on her Likendin [sic] profile
She left us one of the most heart-wrenching radio communications in aviation history
May she rest in peace 🕊️ #fyp
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @eleguuav on Instagram.)
The Learjet crashed on Nov. 1, 2026, killing all nine people aboard, including a family with two young children. The National Transportation Safety Board said the aircraft appeared to have begun breaking apart before impact, and investigators are examining weather conditions, crew actions and possible mechanical problems. The plane's pilot reported accumulating ice and severe turbulence before declaring an emergency and descending rapidly.
Dudgeon and her mother, Cara Mason, denied claims of her death on their social media accounts. In a post on Mason's Facebook account on Nov. 2, 2026, she wrote:
I am making a public post that my daughter Alexandra Dudgeon is alive and was not on the plane that went down today. Many social media platforms are showing pictures of her along with the voice recordings from todays plane crash in south Florida. Alexandra (Allie Dudgeon) is alive. She was scheduled off work today and was not on that flight. Our prayers are with the families of those who were.
Following her mother's posts, Dudgeon made two of her own on her LinkedIn account. In a post on Nov. 2, 2026, Dudgeon wrote:
To everyone reaching out and posting my linked in [sic] profile all over social media, I was not involved in the accident. Thank you for checking in.
In a second, later post on LinkedIn on Nov. 2, 2026, Dudgeon wrote:
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reached out to me yesterday and today about the photos of me and false information spread of my involvement in the crash yesterday. I do work for that company but am very thankful I was at home at that day. Thank you to my friends, family and strangers who helped clarify in the comments the false information and stuck up for me. Prayers to the families who were affected by this tragic event🩷
News searches
Lead Stories searched Google News and Yahoo News and found no reports about the claim from established news outlets using the search terms: "Alexandra Dudgeon," "pilot," "plane crash" and "Palm Beach."
The New York Times reported (archived here) the names of all nine victims in an article published on Nov. 2, 2026. None of the names included Dudgeon:
- Pilot Jeff Gregory
- Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras
- Adam Robinson
- Helen Sharp
- Emma, child of Robinson and Sharp
- Charlie, child of Robinson and Sharp
- Anita Maria Cetina, their nanny
- Rachael Reed
- Charmi Fehr
