Nathalia Gadelha’s final text to her boyfriend carried a chilling warning just ten minutes before the Learjet she was co-piloting slammed into a Florida road.
The 20-year-old, who had earned her private pilot’s license at 17, messaged her pilot boyfriend about the deteriorating conditions at 12:40 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 1, her stepfather Thiago Corteleti said. The aircraft went down at 12:50 p.m.
“She texted her boyfriend, I think, at 12:40 p.m. And the accident was at 12:50 p.m.,” Corteleti said.
According to her stepfather, Nathalia’s message read: “I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.”
The Learjet 60 had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was bound for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas when it encountered heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, icing and moderate turbulence over Palm Beach County. The aircraft plunged approximately 35,000 feet in just over a minute before crashing on South Military Trail, between Cresthaven Boulevard and 10th Avenue North, in the Greenacres district, then bursting into flames. All nine people aboard were killed.
Nathalia was identified on November 2 by her mother, Camila, and her stepfather. The pilot’s identity had not yet been released.
Air traffic control recordings obtained by LiveATC.net captured the crew’s final transmissions. “We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” they radioed. Moments later came the last words: “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are continuing to investigate. The FAA stated that the NTSB is leading the probe and will provide all updates.
Nathalia’s path to the cockpit had been deeply personal. She began flying lessons in 2020, taught initially by her father, who qualified as a pilot in 2018. She had spoken openly about the paradox of her skills.
“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. I think it’s funny, and I now want my [driver’s] license really bad,” she previously told CBS12.
Her ambition was to become a commercial pilot. That dream ended when the private jet she was helping to operate fell from the sky during severe weather.
Local residents described a catastrophic scene. Anthony Blackmon told NBC6 that debris struck his home and the destruction was widespread. “Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire, even the road was on fire,” he said.
Blackmon added: “I’ve always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today.”
The NTSB investigation is continuing.