Who Was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras? Co-Pilot Named in Florida Plane Crash - Newsweek

That was the chilling audio from the cockpit in the final moments on board a Learjet flight that ended in a fiery crash on a Florida street on Sunday. Nine people were killed November 1 when the Learjet 60 aircraft crashed in Palm Beach County, about 9 miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

The co-pilot has been identified by family members as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, who grew up in Palm Beach County and has been flying since she was 17.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Newsweek that the aircraft departed from Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas.

“The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB is in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates,” an FAA spokesperson said.

Flight analysis indicates that the jet was plummeting hundreds of feet per second before crashing just moments after a mayday call was issued at 12:47 p.m.

In audio recorded moments before the crash, someone in the cockpit can be heard reporting "moderate turbulence" and that the crew was "managing the ice.”

Just 35 seconds after the initial mayday announcement, the last words from the cockpit were "we're out of time.”

Gadelha Filgueiras’ mother, Camila, and stepfather confirmed to the New York Post on Monday that she was the co-pilot. The family also confirmed the identity to WPEC in West Palm Beach.

The identification came just hours after Emily Shelton, a pilot who posts aviation-related content online, denied she was on the aircraft amid speculation.

Gadelha Filgueiras was a senior at West Boca Raton High School when she gained her pilot’s license in 2023, before she even got her driver’s license.

“I definitely do brag because people say, ‘oh you can’t drive,' and I’m like, 'yeah, but I can fly,’” Gadelha told WPEC at the time.

She explained that she had begun pilot lessons in 2020 but had lessons with her dad, who learned to fly in 2018.

“I like being different than everyone, so to me I think it’s cool that like it’s not really an opportunity, I just didn’t do it, and this is how it ended up," Gadelha Filgueiras said in 2023. "But I think it’s cool. 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.”

She graduated from American Flyers, an Addison, Texas-based flying school with a branch in Pompano Beach, Florida.

In posts on social media, Gadelha Filgueiras’ mother often shared pictures of the family flying together in small planes, while her sister reposted a video on TikTok in the hours after the crash that said: “RIP to the female flying the plane and everyone else on board.”

Footage posted to social media showed a dashcam recording of the moment of the crash. Vehicles are driving on the suburban street when an aircraft nosedives into the ground, exploding into a ball of fire.

"When you see that video, it's a jarring thing,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters on Sunday night.

The U.S. Department of Transportation pointed Newsweek to a statement issued by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy when approached for comment. Duffy described the crash as a "horrific tragedy,” adding: “Please join me in praying for the families and loved ones of those we lost.”

National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman urged anyone with photos or videos of Sunday’s incident to contact federal investigators via email. He also asked residents not to touch debris and instead report any finds to local authorities.

Chapman declined to speculate on a cause, but acknowledged that investigators were looking into whether ice and turbulence factored into the deadly crash. Evidence indicates parts of the plane broke off the aircraft prior to impact.

"We’re in the very early stages here in the investigation," Chapman told reporters during a press conference Monday.

In addition to the nine people aboard the jet, one victim suffered an injury to his leg during Monday's crash, Chapman said. His condition was not immediately available.

Investigators are now analyzing a debris field roughly a half-mile wide by four-tenths of a mile.

"We’re finding debris, but we haven't identified parts yet," Chapman said.

It's unclear when residents near the crash site will be able to return home, Palm Beach County Commissioner Joel Flores said, adding that authorities had evacuated residents from roughly 77 mobile homes in the area.

"Our concern right now is clearing the scene so that our residents can get back to normal," Flores told reporters Monday. "We don’t really have a timeline as to when they are going to be able to comb through all the evidence and do everything they need to do, and that leaves our community looking for answers."

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended Filgueiras on Monday while citing his experience of more than 20 years and 8,000 flight hours in similar aircraft.

"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," Isaacman wrote on his personal X account.

Online criticism of Filgueiras distress calls had been "most troubling," Isaacman said.

"She was the second-in-command (SIC), and while she was empowered to point out mistakes as part of good crew resource management, she was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation," Isaacman wrote. "She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die. I have heard final calls from friends, from military pilots with thousands of hours in fighter aircraft, and they are just as heartbreaking because they know the end is approaching."

Isaacman also urged the public not to speculate on what preceded the deadly crash while a federal investigation unfolds.

"The charter industry routinely hires commercial pilots very early in their careers to gain experience alongside an ATP-qualified captain before they move up to the airlines," NASA's chief continued. "She would still have the appropriate training, qualifications, and checkouts by an FAA examiner or designee."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Dave Siminoff.