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Audio from doomed Learjet's previous flight raises fresh questions after deadly Florida crash
A pilot flying the same Learjet that later crashed in Florida was reprimanded by air traffic control months earlier after having reportedly underestimated the severity of turbulence.
The newly released audio comes after the devastating crash on Sunday November 1, which killed all nine people on board the Learjet aircraft.
Newly released audio from May Learjet flight raises questions over safety
The exchange took place in May this year, when the female pilot was flying the aircraft over Newark, New Jersey, with an air traffic controller who could be heard questioning her decision to climb, asking: "Why are you climbing?"
The pilot explained that the crew had been preparing to contact him because they were struggling with turbulence, stating: "We are just about to call you, we are experiencing moderate [turbulence] and unable to hold altitude.”
However, the controller appeared unimpressed by her description of the conditions, ordering the aircraft to descend, dismissing her claim, responding: "That is not moderate; descend to 4,000 [feet] immediately.
"If you can’t maintain altitude that is not moderate, that is severe turbulence, are you experiencing severe turbulence?", he continued.
Both the woman and a male voice then responded: "Affirmative sir," before the recording ended.
While it remains unclear whether the female pilot heard in the recording was 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who was killed alongside eight others when the Learjet crashed, the aircraft involved in the earlier exchange carried the same registration number, N7226D, as the jet that plunged to the ground while traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas.
Filgueiras, who grew up in Palm Beach County, had previously attracted attention in a local media report after obtaining her pilot's licence in 2023, aged just 17, and speaking to CBS12 at the time, she admitted: "I definitely do brag because people say, 'Oh, you can’t drive,' and I’m like, 'Yeah, but I can fly.'"
Her mother, Camila, regularly shared photographs of Filgueiras and her siblings traveling on private aircraft, while her father, Allan, also held a pilot's license.
Camila described her daughter's passion for flying when speaking to The New York Times, saying: "She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top."
Filgueiras also shared several videos of herself flying on social media, with footage uncovered by the Daily Mail showing her at the controls of the same Learjet in September.
Details of the fatal crash
The aircraft was involved in a devastating crash just weeks later, with shocking dashcam footage capturing it plunging towards the ground at an almost vertical angle.
Experts have suggested the jet was traveling at close to the speed of sound when it hit the ground, triggering a huge explosion, with debris sent flying into the air as thick black smoke ascended from the scene.
The first passengers identified among those killed were married couple, Adam Robinson, 45, and Helen Sharp, 40, along with their two children, as previously reported by the Daily Mail.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also confirmed at a press conference on Monday that a man on the ground had suffered a leg injury after being struck by debris.
At the time of Sunday's disaster, Filgueiras and her fellow pilot, 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, were attempting to navigate through two storm systems, known as cells, leading several aviation experts to suggest that the Learjet may have encountered a phenomenon known as 'coffin corner' while attempting to climb above the storms.
At high altitudes, the difference between an aircraft's minimum safe speed and maximum safe speed becomes extremely narrow, as flying too slowly can cause a stall, while exceeding the upper limit can result in a loss of control.
As the twin-engine business jet approached the area, air traffic controllers in Miami had authorised pilots to "deviate left and right" to avoid weather conditions, warning of "moderate precipitation... to the southeast", describing the conditions as "pretty nasty".
Controllers subsequently referred to moderate turbulence before the situation appeared to deteriorate rapidly.
In a series of increasingly desperate radio transmissions, Filgueiras reported that the aircraft was losing altitude.
"Seven two two bravo delta, we're descending 8,000... mayday mayday... we're descending 10,000ft per minute," she exclaimed.
Seconds later, she declared an emergency, adding: "Declaring emergency, declaring emergency, we are in an overspeed condition.
"Descending 20,000ft per minute... we're going to crash into the ground.”
The air traffic controller attempted to reassure the crew, responding: "I'm here with you, talk to me."
Filgueiras then reported: "We are descending 22,000ft, and we are banking 60 degrees, before her final transmission issued a desperate warning: "We're out of time."
In another deeply distressing moment, the pilot could reportedly be heard reciting the Lord's Prayer just seconds before impact.
The flight had departed Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas, before its journey ended near West Palm Beach, according to flight tracking data.
The impact scattered wreckage across a considerable area and left a large crater in the road.
Outgoing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the devastation when speaking to reporters on Sunday.
"It was a cataclysmic plane crash," he claimed.
"It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road."