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By Jordan King
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The father of the 20-year-old copilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who died after a jet nose-dived into a South Florida neighborhood, has spoken out, saying he “wanted to be by her side inside the plane.”
Nathalia Filgueiras was one of nine people killed when the Learjet 60 aircraft crashed in Palm Beach County on November 1, after it departed from Austin, Texas, to head to the Bahamas. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
During a heartbreaking press conference on Friday, Nathalia Filgueiras’s father Allan Filgueiras said his daughter was “gifted” and called her his “soulmate.”
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“I wanted to be by her side, inside the plane, to help her, to be by her. I had to be next to her,” he said.
Allan Filgueiras said he had repeatedly listened to her final radio transmissions to search for clues about how the crash happened and said he was proud of how she handled the crisis.
“She showed me what it is to be a hero,” he said, “because once you see that coming, a lot of the big boys — military or whatever — they can’t handle. And she was the one over there to the last minute fighting.”
Nathalia Filgueiras can first be heard calmly telling air traffic control about ice buildup on the plane as it flew into a thunderstorm. Turbulence tossed it up and down by 700 feet (200 meters), but the situation quickly escalated as the aircraft fell at breathtaking speed. “Declare an emergency 722-Bravo-Delta. We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute!” she said.
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Criticism of Nathalia Filgueiras’ Age
Friday’s press conference was held to “preserve not just her memory, but her reputation,” her father’s attorney Stuart Grossman said amid online criticism questioning whether she had enough experience to be in the cockpit of a high-performance business jet.
“She was at the top of her class in everything that she did, and she was perfectly qualified to be the co-pilot on this flight, despite her tender years,” Grossman said, noting there were no immediate plans for any lawsuit.
Nathalia Filgueiras had more than 1,300 hours of experience and completed extensive training to earn her commercial pilot’s license and Learjet certification.
Investigators were still searching the area Friday after finding part of an engine a day earlier. The cockpit recorder remains missing.
Allan Filgueiras said he helped teach her how to fly after taking her aloft for the first time at age 12. Once she got a job as a pilot, she told him she couldn’t believe she was getting paid to do something she loved.
“It was her happiest moment, to fly,” he said.
Her mentor and instructor, Chris Kirk, said she earned her position through dedication and perseverance by putting in hard work and long hours.
What We Know About the Crash
The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined what caused the crash. The Learjet accelerated beyond its design limits as it fell, and pieces of its tail were found miles away from the crash site, which is a deep crater on the edge of a road.
The plane was heading east at 35,000 feet when pilots reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and requested to climb another 2,000 feet.
Moments later, the plane entered a steep dive, first 10,000 feet per minute, then 20,000 feet per minute and up to 30,000 feet per minute, speeding the plane beyond its design limits, according to air traffic control recordings and flight tracking data.
A pilot declared an emergency and issued distress calls. The plane banked sharply to the right before it smashed into the ground.
Minutes before the crash, the pilot reported ice accumulating on the jet and turbulence that was jolting it by as much as 700 feet (213 meters), according to air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net.
“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” the pilot told controllers.
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But the situation rapidly deteriorated. After encountering precipitation and requesting to climb, the pilot declared an emergency as the aircraft began losing altitude at an alarming rate.
“We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed.
“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” the pilot radioed, before delivering a devastating acknowledgment of what was about to happen. “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Passengers Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp, their children Emma and Charlie, Rachael Reed as well as Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina also died, along with the 55-year-old captain Jeff Gregory, who is believed to have been at the controls at the time.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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