One of the pilots of the private jet that crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday was a 20-year-old aviation enthusiast who first got her pilot’s license in high school, her family told multiple outlets on Monday, as investigators probe what caused the plane to rapidly plunge into the ground, killing all nine people onboard.
Key Facts
The crash occurred in Palm Beach County around 12:50 p.m. EST, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement on social media on Sunday.
The plane was a Learjet 60, a small business aircraft, that took off from Austin and was traveling to the Bahamas, Duffy confirmed, noting that all nine people on board were killed.
One of the pilots was identified as Nathalia Filgueiras, her family told multiple outlets on Monday, a 20-year-old who was a co-pilot on the flight—although it is not clear who was at the jet’s controls when the crash happened.
According to air traffic control recordings shared by LiveATC.net, one of the pilots reported “light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” then reported precipitation and requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet.
A short while later, the pilot declared an emergency, reporting an “overspeed condition” and a rapid descent of “20,000 feet per minute,” before adding, “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Around 35 seconds after the pilot declared a mayday the last thing heard from the cockpit was, “We’re out of time.”
According to Flightradar24, the aircraft entered a steep dive shortly before the crash with its reported rate of descent exceeding 32,000 feet per minute at one point.
What Do We Know About the Victims?
Authorities have not identified any of the victims onboard the flight yet, but Filgueiras’ family told multiple outlets she was serving as the flight’s co-pilot. Her family said she earned her pilot’s license at age 17 and logged over 1,300 flight hours. She was profiled by a local CBS affiliate in Florida as a student in 2023, where she told reporters she earned her pilot’s license before her driver’s license. Speaking to CNN Brasil, Filgueiras’ mother called her “a very good girl – responsible, hardworking” and claimed she “couldn’t make any decisions” in her role as co-pilot. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who is a jet pilot, defended the co-pilot on social media, writing “she was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation. She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die.”
What else do we know about the deadly Learjet crash?
The plane involved in the crash was a Learjet 60, made by Bombardier and owned by a Delaware-registered company, according to Reuters. The plane took off from Austin, Texas, and was heading to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas before it crashed near a roadway in Florida. Palm Beach County authorities evacuated around 600 people from a nearby mobile home community after the crash, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths on the ground. Video of the crash taken by onlookers circulated on social media on Sunday, showing the jet nosediving into the ground, leaving behind a smoldering crater. In a press conference, DeSantis described the incident as a “big-time tragedy” and said: “When you see that video, it’s a jarring thing. It was like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere.”
What to Watch For
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, and Duffy said the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the incident, alongside a team from the Federal Aviation Administration. “We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” NTSB member Tom Chapman told reporters at a news conference on Monday. “Some of this is yet to be determined—we may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site.” The National Weather Service forecast showed thunderstorm conditions at nearby President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, and a flood watch was in effect through Monday afternoon. The agency predicted local wind speeds between 10-15 mph, with gusts reaching up to 25 mph. “The crew reported the outside temperature was -47 degrees Celsius, which is -53 Fahrenheit, and they were managing the ice but were in moderate turbulence,” Chapman said on Monday. The crew then requested permission to climb to 37,000 feet, which was approved. But less than 30 seconds later, they began a mayday call. Chapman said investigators could not immediately confirm if the jet flew through an active thunderstorm.
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