The family and friends of 20-year-old pilot Nathalia Filgueiras have spoken publicly for the first time since her death in a fiery Florida plane crash. Her closest friend said the air traffic control recording was “the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”
Filgueiras died Sunday when the Learjet she was co-piloting with 55-year-old Jeff Gregory lost control and plunged tens of thousands of feet before striking the ground in West Palm Beach.
The aircraft erupted into a massive fireball, killing all nine people aboard. The impact carved a large crater into the roadway and scattered debris across an area stretching roughly half a mile. Federal investigators are examining the cause of the crash.
“All we know is that our daughter is down there, under the ground with that airplane,” Filgueiras’s stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, told The Wall Street Journal.
Mikaela Schluth, who had been friends with Filgueiras since middle school, told CBS Mornings that she felt “proud” of her longtime friend.
“She was able to stay calm and give information, up until the last minute,” Schluth said of the harrowing recording. She described hearing it as “the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”
Controllers in Miami had authorized the pilots to move left or right to avoid “moderate precipitation” to the southeast. As the twin-engine business jet approached the area, they characterized the weather as “pretty nasty.”
Nathalia Filgueiras died Sunday after the Learjet she was co-piloting with 55-year-old Jeff Gregory lost control and plunged tens of thousands of feet into the ground in West Palm Beach, Florida
All nine people aboard the aircraft died in the crash, which is now being investigated by federal authorities
The controllers later reported “moderate turbulence.” Filgueiras’s voice quickly became distressed as she realized the aircraft was experiencing a serious emergency.
“Seven two two bravo delta, we’re descending 8,000… mayday mayday… we’re descending 10,000ft per minute,” she said.
Moments later, she declared: “Declaring emergency, declaring emergency, we are in an overspeed condition.”
Her panic intensified as she reported: “Descending 20,000ft per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground.”
“I’m here with you, talk to me,” the air traffic controller replied.
Filgueiras then said: “We are descending 22,000ft, and we are banking 60 degrees.”
In her final transmission, she screamed: “We’re out of time.”
Our News Outlet has decided not to publish the final moments of the recording because they are exceptionally distressing.
The haunting air traffic control recording captured Filgueiras reporting the plane’s rapid descent in her final moments. She is pictured with her boyfriend
Mikaela Schluth told CBS Mornings that she was “proud” of her friend, while describing the recording as the “worst thing I’ve ever heard”
The two women had been close friends since middle school
The impact triggered a huge fireball and left a crater at the crash site
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Conditions around West Palm Beach that Sunday afternoon were challenging, with overcast skies, rain, lightning and easterly winds of 15mph that reached nearly 25mph in gusts.
Disturbing video showed the Learjet striking the road at a speed some experts believe may have been close to the speed of sound.
Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference Monday that the aircraft appeared to begin breaking apart before hitting the ground. He said investigators expected to find debris some distance from the main impact site.
“We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” Chapman said. “We may find parts of the aircraft some distance away from the actual impact site.”
The jet had departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas at 10.37am ET Sunday, bound for the Bahamas.
It was flying east at an altitude of 35,000ft when the pilot began reporting trouble on board.
Among those aboard were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, his 40-year-old wife, Helen Sharp, and their young children, Emma and Charlie.
The family was also traveling with their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, as well as another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, according to a joint statement issued by the victims’ relatives.
Technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, and his wife, Helen Sharp, 40, were traveling with their toddlers, Emma and Charlie, when the jet crashed
They were accompanied by their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, pictured left, and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, pictured right
“Adam and Helen were devoted parents, and Emma, four, and Charlie, two, were the light of their lives. Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,” their families said.
“Their warmth, generosity and gift for making people feel welcome touched so many lives. Their loss will be felt deeply by all those who loved them and whom they loved in return.”
The statement added: “Charmi and Rachel were full of joy and adventure. They loved their people fiercely, fully and without hesitation. From the moment they met, they were all in on each other and the life they were building. They are deeply loved, and we will miss them endlessly.”
“Anita Maria cared for Emma and Charlie with tenderness and devotion, and she was truly part of the family. She showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion.”
Robinson founded the technology company Retention and often spoke publicly about entrepreneurship and building a successful start-up.
Gregory, pictured with his wife, was co-piloting the aircraft alongside Filgueiras
Sharp operated Influential PR, a communications agency, and owned Helen Sharp Ceramics, a pottery studio based in Aspen.
“On behalf of friends and family, it is with a heavy heart that we share that our dearest Helen was taken from us too soon,” her family said in a statement.
“To know Helen was to love her. The number of people grieving Helen and Adam is a testament to how many people were lucky enough to have them in their lives.”
The Palm Beach Post reported Monday that it had spoken with Helen’s father, who said: “It’s quite a blow. We had a daughter, her husband and two grandchildren on the plane.”
