A Learjet that crashed in a devastating fireball near Palm Beach, Florida, may have entered the center of a powerful thunderstorm shortly before the fatal accident, according to a meteorologist.
Nine people died when the aircraft went down near Palm Beach International Airport on Sunday. Video appeared to show the jet plunging toward an intersection before erupting in flames.
The cause of the crash has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the incident.
An initial examination of radar images and available flight data indicates that the Learjet entered a rapidly intensifying thunderstorm, The Palm Beach Post reported.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci told the newspaper that the storm strengthened at an extraordinary pace Sunday morning, with its cloud tops rising roughly 15,000 feet in just 20 minutes.
When the crash occurred at about 12:50 p.m., the storm’s clouds had climbed to approximately 48,300 feet. Only minutes earlier, the pilot had requested permission from air traffic control to increase altitude from 35,000 feet to 37,000 feet while dealing with intense rain.
A mayday transmission followed soon afterward. Audio recorded the co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras, urgently telling controllers that the plane was falling toward the ground.
“Descending 20,000ft per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground,” she said. In the background, the unidentified pilot could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
A meteorologist says the pilot of the Learjet may have flown into the center of a powerful thunderstorm before the aircraft crashed in a fireball near Palm Beach, Florida
Co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, was heard alerting air traffic control that the jet was in serious trouble moments before the crash
Filgueiras was identified as the Learjet’s co-pilot on Monday. Her family said she was raised in Palm Beach County and had pursued aviation with deep enthusiasm.
After receiving her pilot’s license at 17 in 2023, she appeared on local television to mark the achievement.
“I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly,’” Filgueiras told CBS12.
Her mother, Camila, frequently posted photographs of Nathalia and her siblings traveling aboard private jets. Their father, Allan, also held a pilot’s license.
“She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top,” Camila told The New York Times.
Cockpit recordings captured Filgueiras trying to explain the unfolding emergency aboard the Learjet 60 as she communicated with air traffic controllers shortly before the crash.
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She reportedly said the aircraft had rolled to a 60-degree bank, leaving it nearly on its side, while describing dramatic altitude changes. Beside her, the distressed pilot could be heard praying.
The Daily Mail has decided not to release the final moments of the recording because the audio is extremely distressing.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was serving as co-pilot aboard the Learjet 60 when it crashed near West Palm Beach on Sunday
Experts have suggested that the approximately $2 million jet may have been affected by a dangerous condition known as coffin corner
The flight had set off from Austin, Texas, bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas before its path abruptly ended just near West Palm Beach, according to flight data.
The impact left debris scattered across a significant distance and a massive crater in the road, but authorities said nobody on the ground was injured or killed in the crash.
The jet crashed just eight miles from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club, and the president and Air Force One took off from Palm Beach International Airport just an hour before the crash landing.
The cause of the tragedy is under investigation, with some aviation experts suggesting the plane may have fallen foul of ‘coffin corner’ while trying to climb above two storm systems, known as cells.
Coffin corner is a phenomenon whereby the jet’s minimum safe speed and maximum safe speed converge into a very narrow range at high altitude, making it extremely difficult to fly safely.
If the plane goes too slow or fast it will stall and quickly become uncontrollable.
The impact left a massive crater in the middle of the road, damaging nearby infrastructure
Officials do not believe the road where the plane crashed will be open for another month
Former pilot Martin Varsavsky, who now runs his own AI firm, posted to X saying that he believed that bad weather in the area could have caused the fatal error.
He said: ‘The radars clearly showed those cells; in light jets, the rule is to deviate with a good margin, not to fly through them – this could be an error by the woman who was piloting.
‘What storms do by changing the outside temperature is that airplanes can no longer stay aloft at the same speed. It’s called the coffin corner. Or they become very difficult to keep under control.’