A 20-year-old woman with a pilot’s license and a family of four was among nine people killed when a small jet crashed and exploded in South Florida, their families said.
Camila Corteleti told the New York Post and New York Times that her daughter, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, was the copilot flying a Learjet from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, Sunday when it crashed and exploded near West Palm Beach with eight other people aboard.
In a joint statement, family members confirmed that Adam Robinson, Helen Sharp and their two children, as well as Rachael Reed, Charmie Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina, were also on board the jet when it crashed.
“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 statement read.
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman said during a news conference Monday that investigators found evidence the aircraft started breaking up before it hit the ground and that debris from the aircraft could be spread far and wide.
“We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” Chapman said. “We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site.”
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said key components of the jet’s tail may have been lost during the turbulence or as it nose-dived.
Filgueiras earned her license in 2023 when she was a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School, according to local news reports at the time.
Her pilot’s license showed she had the rating to fly the jet but not to be in command of the flight.
The Palm Beach County School District paid for her license as part of the high school’s specialized aviation academy, in which students practice flying on simulators and drones.
“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.”