Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was only 17 when she earned her pilot’s license, having learned to fly under the guidance of her father, a recreational aviation enthusiast.
The 20-year-old co-pilot was passionate about the independence of being in the air and qualified to fly before she had learned to drive, according to her mother and resurfaced interviews following the fatal Florida crash.
Camila Corteleti told The New York Times that her daughter was at the controls of the Learjet when it crashed in West Palm Beach on Sunday, near Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. All nine people aboard were killed.
Federal officials are investigating the disaster, while authorities have not yet formally identified the co-pilot.
Corteleti said her daughter received her pilot’s license at 17 and later worked for Upper Jets, a private charter company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale.
“She loved the freedom,” Corteleti said. “Seeing the world from above was an entirely different experience.”
Speaking to the New York Post, Corteleti said she had long worried that her daughter’s love of flying might ultimately “take her away.”
“I wanted her to pursue her dream, but I understood that dream could be the very thing that took her away from me,” she said.
Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, was reportedly flying the Learjet 60 when it went down near West Palm Beach on Sunday
Aviation experts have suggested the $2 million jet may have been affected by a phenomenon known as coffin corner
Federal authorities are examining the crash to establish what caused the aircraft to go down
“I always knew a plane could take her away from me. I knew it, but I was incredibly proud of her. She was living the dream she had chosen.”
Filgueiras’s father, who flies recreationally, introduced her to aviation. Her mother recalled that Nathalia also enjoyed watching aircraft depart from Boca Raton Airport.
As a senior at West Boca Raton High School, Filgueiras told CBS12 that she had obtained her Private Pilot’s License before learning to drive.
“I definitely brag about it. People say, ‘You can’t drive,’ and I tell them, ‘Yes, but I can fly,’” she said in the local news interview in October 2023.
“I like standing out from everyone else, so I think it’s cool. It wasn’t really something I planned as an opportunity—I simply chose not to drive first, and this is how things turned out,” she added.
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“Some people think it’s strange that I can fly planes but can’t drive a car. I can drive, but people find it funny. I find it funny too—and now I really want to get my driver’s license.”
Raised in Palm Beach County, Filgueiras appeared in a local news report after earning her pilot’s license at 17 in 2023
The crash carved a large crater into the roadway and caused damage to nearby infrastructure
Before qualifying, Filgueiras completed Ground School, a training program involving two to three years of aviation theory and simulator work, as well as 40 hours flying with an instructor and 10 hours of solo flight.
Her social media celebrated her flying achievements, including a photograph posted on Facebook showing the wing of a plane over a cloudy sky.
The young pilot’s father, Allan Gilgueiras, wrote beneath the image that he was ‘a proud dad of a super pilot’, while her aunt, Tamara Filgueiras, added: ‘I am a proud aunt and both of you are super pilots’.
Her mother also often shared images of Filgueiras and her siblings traveling on private jets.
Horrifying audio of the fatal crash in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, revealed that Figueiras’ co-pilot said the Lord’s Prayer during their final moments.
While he prayed, Filgueiras could be heard saying that the Learjet 60 had banked 60 degrees, meaning it was flying sideways.
The cause of the crash, which happened eight miles from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club, remains unclear
Moments later, the plane crashed in a fireball by the side of the road, killing all nine people who were on board.
The identities of the others onboard have yet to be released, with officials set to hold a press conference and share more information later on Monday.
Initial speculation has pointed to stormy weather as a possible cause for the crash, which happened as the $2 million business jet was flying from Austin in Texas to the Bahamas.
Some aviation experts have suggested 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 for a pilot to maintain a safe speed.
If the plane goes too slow or fast it will stall and quickly become uncontrollable.
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