A young co-pilot sent a chilling final text to her boyfriend just minutes before a private jet plummeted onto a busy road in Florida, killing all nine people on board.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was co-piloting the Learjet when it suddenly plunged towards the ground in Palm Beach County about 12.50pm local time on Sunday.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Young co-pilot identified in Florida plane crash
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Dashcam footage captured the horrifying moment the jet slammed nose-first into a roadway before erupting into a massive fireball.
The impact left a large, smouldering crater, with debris scattered across the surrounding area.
“Debris was everywhere. Debris hit my house. Everything was on fire. The road was on fire,” Anthony Blackmon, who lives near the crash site, told NBC affiliate WTVJ.
“I’ve always seen it on the news, never thought it would happen so close to somebody like how it happened today.”
Shocking video captures the moment a jet slammed into a mobile home in Florida. Credit: X/Twitter
Filgueiras’ stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, told the New York Post she had been texting her boyfriend, who is also a pilot, about the conditions she was experiencing just minutes before the crash.
“She texted her boyfriend, I think, at 12.40 pm and the accident was at 12.50pm,” the 44-year-old said.
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“She just said, ‘I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.”
Filgueiras had also reported turbulence and ice accumulating on the aircraft while flying at 35,000 feet.
“We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” she was heard saying over the radio.
Nathalia Filgueiras’ final text to her boyfriend has been revealed. Credit: Threads
But the situation rapidly deteriorated.
After requesting permission to climb another 2000 feet, she issued a mayday call as the jet began descending at an alarming rate.
“We’re descending 8000 [feet] — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” she said.
“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute.
“We’re going to crash into the ground.”
Filgueiras earned her pilot’s licence at just 17. Credit: Threads
Filgueiras’ mother, Camila Gadelha Corteleti, told CNN the family was originally from Brazil but lived in Florida.
“She was a very good girl — responsible, hardworking,” Corteleti said.
“She was the co-pilot and couldn’t make any decisions.”
Filgueiras earned her pilot’s licence at just 17, an achievement she was immensely proud of.
“Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car,” Filgueiras told WPEC-TV in 2023.
“I think it’s funny.”
Victims identified
A family-of-four from Texas were travelling on the doomed jet with their nanny and two close friends.
A family of four and their nanny, a couple, and a young pilot and her captain have all died in a private jet that crashed in Florida. Credit: Anthony Robinson/Facebook
Helen Sharp, 40, and her husband, Adam Robinson, 45, were travelling with their children, four-year-old Emma and two-year-old Charlie.
“Adam and Helen were devoted parents,” a joint statement from the families of several victims read.
“Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and who they loved in return.”
The family’s nanny Anita Maria Cetina was also onboard the flight.
“Anita Maria cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion, and was truly part of the family. She showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion,” the statement said.
The family’s friends, couple Charmi Fehr and Rachael Reed, were also among those killed.
The pilot was identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory, an experienced aviator from Pennsylvania, according to TMZ.
The pilot was identified as 55-year-old Jeff Gregory. Credit: Facebook
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