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Dad of 20-year-old Florida Learjet co-pilot has heartbreaking reaction to her last words
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The father of Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot killed in a Learjet crash in Florida, has shared a heartbreaking message.
As previously reported, Nathalia was among nine people killed when a Learjet 60 plummeted to the ground in Palm Beach County, close to a neighborhood of mobile homes.
The other victims were pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, and passengers Adam Robinson, 44, who was a multimillionaire tech exec, his wife Helen Sharp, their two young children - Emma, four, and Charlie, two - and their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido, as well as their friends, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
Following the devastating crash, which was caught on dashcam footage by passing motorists, audio recordings between the plane and ATC were released.
In the exchange, Nathalia was heard reporting that they were experiencing icing and turbulence, asking to climb to around 37,000 feet to get above the bad weather shortly before the plane nosedived at a rate of over 20,000 feet per minute.
While she initially reported that that were experiencing turbulence and "managing" ice building up on the aircraft, seconds later they issued a Mayday call as the plane began to lose altitude rapidly.
Nathalia's scream could be heard on the audio recording as Captain Gregory was heard reciting the Lord's Prayer as they tried to control the plane before it crashed.
The young pilot had also sent a text to her boyfriend, Justin, just 10 minutes before her death, saying: "I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice."
Her father, Allan Filgueiras, broke down as he spoke at a press conference following Nathalia's death, revealing how proud he was of her achieving her dreams at such a young age.
Nathalia had received her pilot's license before even getting her driver's license and had developed her love of flying from her father, who'd learned to be a pilot recreationally.
He devastatingly said: "I wanted to be by her side inside the plane to help, to be by her. I had to be next to her."
Allan added: "She made me so proud. She showed me what it is to be a hero 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."
He admitted: "I did listen to that many times, trying to find a clue in my head, how that happened. And wow, she's tough."
Stuart Grossman, the family’s attorney, added: "She was really special; this is a loss to aviation.
"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."
Allan also spoke of Nathalia's passion for aviation, revealing: "You know, she said, 'dad, can you believe, can you believe that I would pay for this but they actually paying me, you know, I would pay for this but I’m actually getting paid,' so it was her happiest moment to fly."
Nathalia was praised for the way she communicated the plane's final moments to ATC, despite the dire circumstances and the knowledge that the plane was going to crash within seconds.
An investigation is currently underway into the circumstances of the crash.