The co-pilot killed in Sunday’s catastrophic Learjet crash in South Florida has been identified by her family.
According to the New York Post, the co-pilot is Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, a flying phenom who was among nine people aboard the Learjet 60 when it plunged into Palm Beach County shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday.
Everyone aboard was killed when the aircraft slammed into the ground near Military Trail in the Greenacres area, leaving a massive crater. The business jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was traveling to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas.
Gadelha’s mother and stepfather identified the young aviator as one of the victims, although authorities had not publicly identified all nine victims Monday. Her death brought renewed attention to the remarkable aviation career she had already built despite being only 20 years old.
Gadelha earned her private pilot’s license at 17 while attending West Boca Raton High School, even before obtaining her driver’s license. She began ground school in 2020 and also learned about aviation from her father, who had taken up flying recreationally.
The Palm Beach County School District’s Aviation Academy helped finance her private pilot training while she remained a high school student. By September 2023, Gadelha had earned her private pilot’s license after accumulating approximately 88 hours of flight time.
She later graduated from American Flyers flight school and continued accumulating the certifications and experience needed for a professional aviation career. Gadelha ultimately accumulated approximately 1,300 flight hours and had been working as a commercial pilot for roughly nine months before Sunday’s crash.
Her ambition was eventually to fly commercial airliners, something her family said had been a childhood dream. Gadelha had also posted photographs from aircraft cockpits while documenting her progress through the aviation industry.
Horrifying audio of the Learjet 60 that crashed near Mar-a-Lago this afternoon. https://t.co/fwcrOc1BFo
— USA Features Media (@USAFeatures) November 1, 2026
The flight encountered serious weather problems shortly before disaster struck, according to air traffic control recordings and preliminary reporting. The crew reported turbulence, icing and precipitation before requesting permission to climb approximately 2,000 feet in search of better conditions.
Gadelha also reportedly texted her boyfriend about turbulence and ice roughly 10 minutes before the aircraft went down. Investigators have not determined whether those conditions caused or contributed to the crash. The Learjet subsequently entered an extraordinarily steep descent as its crew desperately communicated with air traffic controllers.
Flight-tracking information indicated the jet initially descended at approximately 10,000 feet per minute before its rate increased dramatically. The descent eventually exceeded 20,000 feet per minute, with some reporting based on flight data putting the rate even higher shortly before impact.
A crew member declared an emergency as the aircraft rapidly lost altitude and exceeded its normal operating limits. Video captured the jet diving almost vertically toward the ground before exploding in a fireball near homes and businesses.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the accident as “cataclysmic” and said footage made the aircraft appear like a missile plunging toward Earth. Investigators will examine the aircraft, weather conditions, flight data, maintenance history and communications as they work to determine what caused the sudden loss of control.
Officials have cautioned that no cause has been established, making it premature to conclude that icing, turbulence or mechanical failure brought down the Learjet.
For Gadelha’s family, the investigation follows the devastating loss of a young woman whose aviation career had advanced remarkably quickly. Her mother said she was proud that her daughter had been able to pursue the dream she had held since childhood. Gadelha went from earning her pilot’s license as a high school student to flying professionally before she was old enough to legally purchase alcohol.
Her rapid progression had already attracted local media attention years before the crash, when she discussed becoming a licensed pilot at only 17. Three years later, the promising young aviator was aboard the Learjet whose unexplained plunge became one of South Florida’s deadliest recent aviation disasters.
