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Heartbreaking final act of one of Learjet crash victims caught on tape moments before death
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Heartbreaking audio recordings from the cockpit of a doomed Learjet have captured one of the victims' haunting final acts.
As previously reported, at least nine people were killed when a private jet traveling from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to the Bahamas ran into difficulties mid-flight.
The jet tragically lost control and crashed in a residential neighborhood near Cresthaven, Florida, at 12:50PM on Sunday (November 1).
One of the pilots of the Learjet 60 was identified by her family as Nathalia Gadelha, a 20-year-old who'd obtained her pilot's license at 17, before she could even drive a car.
The tragedy was caught on dashcam video from a nearby car, capturing the terrifying moment the jet collided nose-first with the ground, erupting into a giant fireball and leaving a large crater.
Air traffic control recordings of the minutes before the deadly crash revealed the crew's desperate final moments as they tried to prevent the plane from crashing.
In the audio, a female voice - believed to be Gadelha - can be heard reporting that the plane was descending at an alarming rate before warning that it was banking at a 60-degree angle.
Shortly before the incident, she had reported moderate turbulence and “light, clear ice that is manageable” to the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center.
She could then be heard telling ATC: "We’re descending 8,000 - mayday, mayday - we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute.
"We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000 feet per minute. We’re going to crash into the ground."
The woman, who bravely tried to relay as much information as possible to ATC despite the desperate conditions, could be heard screaming and telling someone else on board, who she appeared to refer to as 'Jack' or 'Jeff': "Holy f**k, we’re out of time."
The heartbreaking final act of a male on board was also heard in the audio recording, as he 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 plane collided with the road, killing all nine people on board instantly.
An investigation is set to begin to determine the reason for the crash, with US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy describing the incident as a "horrific tragedy" in a post on X.
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."