The co-pilot killed in the fiery Florida Learjet crash has been identified as a 20-year-old woman who earned her pilot’s license before she could legally drive.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, of Boca Raton, was among nine people who died when the private jet nosedived into a Palm Beach County neighborhood on Friday afternoon. She had obtained her private pilot’s license in 2023 at age 17 while still attending high school, according to previous local news coverage.
Filgueiras spoke with CBS12 News in 2023 about the novelty of her situation. “I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah but I can fly,'” she said at the time. She added that her father, who had learned to fly years earlier, also taught her. “I think it’s cool,” she said. “Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car, I mean I can but, a lot of people think it’s funny.”
On her Threads account, Filgueiras frequently shared her passion for aviation. In one post, she shared a photo from the cockpit with the caption: “LearJet60!!!!! ALL GLORY TO GOD! AMEM!” Most of her social media posts showed selfies and photos beside jets, documenting her rapid rise in the field.
The Learjet 60 business jet was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it crashed at approximately 12:50 p.m. Local time. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X on Sunday that the aircraft went down close to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, calling it a “horrific tragedy.”
According to flight tracking data and air traffic control recordings, the aircraft was cruising east at 35,000 feet when the pilot began reporting problems. Ice was accumulating on the jet, and turbulence was jolting it by as much as 700 feet. “We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.
The situation deteriorated rapidly. The pilot requested permission to climb 2,000 feet, then declared an emergency as the jet began losing altitude at catastrophic speed. “We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed. Moments later: “We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute.” The final transmission came before impact: “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addressed reporters at the scene. “It was a cataclysmic plane crash,” he said. “It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road.” He confirmed there were no immediate reports of ground injuries or fatalities, though authorities evacuated approximately 600 people from a nearby mobile home community.
Video recorded by bystanders captured the aircraft plunging from the sky, slamming into the ground and exploding. Flames flickered around chunks of pavement lining the crater as thick black smoke engulfed the area.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. Pilots and aviation experts have suggested that severe icing and weather conditions may have caused the plane to plummet. Investigators have indicated that weather conditions are a key focus of their probe, with federal officials expected to provide an update on Monday.
Among the deceased were a couple and their two young children, according to reports. Authorities have not officially released the names of all victims.
Filgueiras had begun her formal pilot lessons in 2020, building toward a career that ended just three years after she first soloed. Her early achievement made her a brief local media curiosity — a teenager who could command a cockpit before she could rent a car.
Federal investigators are expected to provide an update on Monday.