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Florida Learjet pilot identified as 20-year-old woman who got her pilot's licence before she could drive
One of the pilots of the private jet that crashed in Florida, killing nine people on board, has been identified by her family as Nathalia Gadelha.
The Learjet 60 was traveling to the Bahamas after departing from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas when it crashed in a residential neighborhood near Cresthaven at 12:50PM on Sunday (November 1).
In a post on X, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the incident as a "horrific tragedy" and confirmed that all nine people aboard the jet were killed.
Gadelha's loved ones identified her as the one behind the controls of the aircraft when it plummeted to the ground during an interview with The New York Post.
Gadelha grew up in Palm Beach County and previously made headlines in 2023 after earning her private pilot's license at just 17, before she was even old enough to have get 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,'" she told CBS12, cited by Daily Mail.
She had developed a passion for aviation at a young age, beginning flight lessons in 2020 with encouragement from her father, who was also involved in flying. Her mother had also shared photographs of the family traveling aboard private jets.
Heartbreaking air traffic control recordings released following the deadly crash captured the crew's desperate final moments.
In the audio, a female voice can be heard reporting that the plane was descending at an alarming rate before warning that it was banking at a 60-degree angle.
A separate voice reportedly appeared to recite part of the Lord's Prayer, including the words "who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name," although the identity of the speaker has not been independently established.
Moments later, the aircraft crashed beside a roadway and erupted into a massive fireball, killing all nine people aboard.
The identities of the rest onboard have yet to be released.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that there were no immediate reports of anyone on the ground injured or killed.
"It was a cataclysmic plane crash," he said. "It looked like a missile going down and left a big crater on the side of the road."
The crash site is located roughly eight miles from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The 80-year-old was in Iowa for a midterm election rally around the time of the incident.