The father of Learjet co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras has explained why he continues to listen to his daughter’s haunting final radio transmissions.
“She made me incredibly proud,” Allan Filgueiras said during a Nov. 6 press conference about his 20-year-old daughter. “She showed me what it means to be a hero.”
The grieving father said he has replayed the recording repeatedly, trying to make sense of the moments leading up to the crash. Each time, he reaches the same conclusion: “Wow, she is tough.”
“I wanted to be beside her, inside that airplane, helping her,” Allan said. The pilot had helped train Nathalia. “I needed to be next to her.”
Nathalia was serving as co-pilot on a flight from Texas to the Bahamas on Nov. 1 when she and Captain Jeffrey Gregory encountered severe conditions during a thunderstorm.
According to flight audio recorded by LiveATC.net, Nathalia told air traffic controllers the jet was experiencing “light, clear ice” and moderate turbulence. She then requested clearance to climb to a higher altitude. Moments later, she declared an emergency as the aircraft began descending at a reported rate of 350 feet per second.
“Mayday, mayday. We’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” Nathalia shouted in the recording. “We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute. We are going to crash into the ground!”
In the final recorded moments, Nathalia said, “Look outside, Jeff, look outside. Holy f—k. We’re out of time.”
The Learjet slammed into a roadway near Cresthaven, leaving behind a large crater. Human remains were scattered at the scene, while debris reached nearby residential rooftops. All seven passengers—Adam Robinson, 45; Helen Sharp, 40; Emma Robinson, 4; Charles Robinson, 2; Ana Maria Ramirez Cetina, 24; Rachael Reed, 38; and Rowan “Charmi” Fehr Toews, 38—died along with both crew members.
Investigators said no one on the ground was killed, though a man inside a car sustained a leg injury.
KEEP READING: Putin urges Russians to stop drinking, keep making babies – NewsFinale
Nathalia’s passion for aviation began when she was 12 and started joining her father on flights with an instructor. By the time of the crash, she had completed more than 1,300 hours of training, earned her commercial pilot’s license and become certified to fly Learjets, according to the Associated Press.
As her experience grew, Nathalia even became something of an instructor to her father.
“She said, ‘Dad, can you believe I’m not being as tough on you as you were on me?’” Allan recalled. “I told her, ‘You can be tough on me.’”
Allan said he intends to stay strong for Nathalia’s mother and sisters while carrying his daughter’s memory forward.
“Nathalia would not want to see her father falling apart,” he said. “So I’m going to find a way to make her proud.”
His attorney, Stuart Grossman, also spoke publicly in defense of Nathalia’s training and qualifications.
“Please don’t ask us questions about fault—we’re not talking about that,” Grossman said. He later added, “The purpose of this is to preserve not just her memory but her reputation.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has not determined what caused the crash. A spokesperson for Upper Jets, the company that owns the Learjet, told People that updates about the investigation would come from the NTSB. A spokesperson for Learjet manufacturer Bombardier told NBC News that the company could not comment on the potential cause of the accident until the investigation is complete.
Grossman described Nathalia as “beyond an average pilot.”
“She was extraordinary,” Grossman said. “She was at the top of her class in everything she did, and she was fully qualified to serve as co-pilot on this flight, despite her young age.”