Jared Isaacman, 41, has publicly defended a young co-pilot killed in a Florida plane crash after internet trolls blamed her for the disaster that claimed nine lives.
The NASA administrator tore into online critics Monday for attacking 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who died Sunday when the Bombardier Learjet 60 she was co-piloting crashed near Palm Beach. Filgueiras had earned her pilot’s license in high school and logged roughly 1,800 hours of flight time before the fatal flight.
“I feel compelled to post after seeing commentary about the Lear 60 crash, from missile strikes to DEI to critiquing this poor woman’s final radio calls … That last part is what I find most troubling,” Isaacman wrote on X.
“She was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation,” he added.
Isaacman, a billionaire aviation enthusiast who founded the private fighter jet firm Draken International in 2011 and sold it in 2019, warned that armchair experts were rushing to judgment before investigators determined the crash’s cause. Before joining NASA, he personally commanded two private space missions and built one of the world’s largest private military fighter jet fleets used to train American and allied pilots.
The jet was flying through freezing, stormy conditions at approximately 35,000 feet when Filgueiras reported icing and turbulence to air traffic control. Experts told The Post that the young aviator was likely handling communications while veteran Captain Jeff Gregory remained on the controls.
Filgueiras requested permission to climb above the storm, then issued a desperate mayday call as the plane began plummeting. She continued updating controllers on speed and altitude through the final seconds.
“I understand the public interest given the footage and audio. But you do not know the aircraft’s maintenance history, whether there was a structural failure, if any failure was induced by turbulence, overspeed, or overcontrol, or everything happening in that cockpit,” Isaacman wrote.
Investigators have said the aircraft appeared to break apart before impact, scattering debris across a half-mile stretch near a trailer park. The National Transportation Safety Board is now leading the investigation into what brought down the doomed flight.
The crash occurred Sunday in severe weather near Palm Beach, Florida, killing all nine people aboard including Filgueiras and Captain Gregory. Audio from the flight’s final moments captured Filgueiras yelling “Holy f–k … We’re out of time!” just before the radio went dead.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation into the crash.