A 20‑year‑old pilot, Nathalia Filgueiras, was among the crew of a Learjet 60 that crashed on Sunday in a residential area of Palm Beach, Fla., killing all nine people on board. Filgueiras, from Boca Raton, Fla., had logged more than 1,300 hours of flight time and earned her pilot’s license at 17, according to her mother, Camila Corteleti. She worked for Upper Jets, a private charter firm based in Fort Lauderdale, and was co‑pilot on the flight that had departed from Texas en route to the Bahamas.
Corteleti said her daughter had been passionate about flying since childhood, often accompanying her recreational‑pilot father to the skies. “She loved the freedom,” Corteleti recalled, noting that Nathalia would watch planes at Boca Raton Airport and declared at age 12 that she wanted to be a pilot. The family described a deep connection to aviation that drove Nathalia’s ambition.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that all aboard died and that no one on the ground was injured. Air‑traffic communications released on Sunday show the pilot reported rain, light ice, and moderate turbulence while requesting a climb to 37,000 ft. Moments later she transmitted a mayday, screaming that the jet was descending at 20,000 feet per minute and “We’re going to crash into the ground.” Investigators are working to determine the cause of the accident.
The crash left a smoldering crater and scattered wreckage in the street. Efforts to reach Upper Jets for comment were not immediately successful. This is a developing story; updates will follow as authorities investigate.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing