At just 20, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was already living the career most pilots spend years chasing. On Sunday, November 1, that promising future ended when the Learjet she was co-piloting crashed and exploded near West Palm Beach, Florida, killing all nine people on board.
Family Confirms Her Death
Her father, Allan Filgueiras, confirmed to NBC Miami that she was the co-pilot. The jet was flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. Among the victims were a family of four, including two young children.
A Pilot Before She Could Drive
Filgueiras was born in Florida to a Brazilian family and grew up in Boca Raton. She earned her private pilot’s license at 17, before getting her driver’s license, her stepfather Thiago Corteleti told CNN Brasil. She began ground school in 2020 and logged 88 flight hours before earning her license in 2023, according to CBS12.
Inspired by Her Father
Her father, who began flying recreationally in 2018, also helped shape her love of aviation.
What Investigators Know So Far
Air traffic control recordings show the pilot reported ice building up on the jet and turbulence while flying at 35,000 feet. An investigator said parts of the aircraft appear to have broken off before it crashed. The NTSB is investigating.
A Life Cut Short
Filgueiras’s story is that of a young woman who turned a childhood passion into a real career before most people her age had finished college.
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