Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, a 20-year-old Brazilian, was the co-pilot of a private jet that crashed in Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine people aboard. Her mother, Camila Corteleti, identified her to US media outlets.
Filgueiras lived in Boca Raton and had accumulated more than 1,300 flight hours, according to her mother. She earned her pilot’s licence at 17 and worked for Upper Jets, a charter flight company based in Fort Lauderdale.
Corteleti said her daughter had been interested in aviation since childhood, when she flew with her father, a recreational pilot. Filgueiras later visited Boca Raton airport to watch planes take off and land, and told her family she wanted to become a pilot when she was about 12.
The Learjet 60 had departed Texas for the Bahamas when it crashed into a residential area in Palm Beach County. The impact left a burning crater and debris in the street. Authorities said no one on the ground was killed or injured.
Recordings of communications between the crew and air traffic control indicate that a pilot reported rain, ice formation and moderate turbulence before the crash. The crew requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet. Shortly afterward, a mayday was declared. A female voice, which has not been officially confirmed as Filgueiras’s, reported that the plane was descending at about 20,000 feet per minute and said, “We’re going to hit the ground.”
The identity of the other pilot and the remaining occupants has not been officially released. Filgueiras’s mother said she did not know who was at the controls as the aircraft began losing altitude. Upper Jets did not immediately respond to requests for information.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said on social media that it was too early to speculate about the cause, citing possible factors including structural problems, maintenance history and weather conditions. He also said co-pilots can report problems during a flight and described Filgueiras as doing her job by communicating with air traffic control.
Sources: Folha Mundo.