A 20-year-old pilot who died in a fiery jet crash in Florida over the weekend has been remembered as a gifted aviator who excelled in her flight examinations.
Nathalia 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 near West Palm Beach.
The aircraft erupted into a huge fireball, killing all nine people aboard. The impact carved a large crater into the roadway and scattered debris across half a mile. Federal authorities are investigating the crash.
As family and friends mourned Filgueiras, her former flight instructor and mentor, Chris Kirk, described her as an exceptional pilot.
“Without a doubt the most naturally gifted pilot I have ever taught, and I have been teaching for 40 years,” Kirk wrote on Facebook Wednesday.
“That young lady was born to fly! There was not a check ride that the examiner was not blown away.”
Kirk said Filgueiras had fewer than 1,100 flight hours when she completed her Learjet rating, yet “absolutely aced” the Pilot-in-Command type rating. He added that the examiner believed she had closer to 5,000 hours of experience.
A Pilot-in-Command type rating is an endorsement added to a pilot’s license that authorizes the holder to serve as captain or the sole pilot of a particular aircraft type.
Kirk also said Filgueiras stood apart from many of the other students he had trained.
Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, died Sunday when the Learjet she was co-piloting with 55-year-old Jeff Gregory lost control and plunged near West Palm Beach, Florida (Source: Nathalia Filgueiras/Threads)
Former flight instructor Chris Kirk remembered Filgueiras as a gifted aviator who excelled in her flight examinations. Source: Chris Kirk/Facebook
“I am saddened because so many of the pilots in training today never wanted to become pilots and only wanted to become airline pilots!” he wrote.
“As I did check rides, I saw this time and time again! They had no passion for flying. They only wanted to get to the airlines to make the big money.”
But Filgueiras, Kirk said, was different.
“Nathalia was PASSIONATE about flying!!! She was a 100 percent natural born pilot!!!”
“I pray that she continues to fly amongst the clouds in heaven,” the instructor wrote. “May she rest in peace and God watch over her.”
Filgueiras was co-piloting the Learjet 60 from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when she was heard telling air traffic control that the aircraft was descending.
She initially reported “moderate turbulence.”
Her voice soon became increasingly distressed as the situation deteriorated.
“Seven two two bravo delta, we’re descending 8,000… mayday mayday… we’re descending 10,000ft per minute,” she said.
All nine people aboard were killed in the crash, which is being investigated by federal authorities
The impact left a large crater in a Florida roadway, while debris was scattered across half a mile
Seconds later, she declared an emergency and reported that the jet was in an overspeed condition.
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“Descending 20,000ft per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground,” she said.
“I’m here with you, talk to me,” the air traffic controller replied.
Filgueiras responded: “We are descending 22,000ft, and we are banking 60 degrees.”
“We’re out of time,” she screamed in her final transmission.
Our News Outlet has chosen not to publish the final seconds of the audio because they are extremely distressing.
In the minutes before the crash, Filgueiras had also been messaging her boyfriend, who was a fellow pilot, about the severe weather.
Her family told the New York Post that she texted her boyfriend Justin: “I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.”
Harrowing footage later appeared to show the Learjet striking the road at what some experts said could have been near-supersonic speed.
Tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, and his 40-year-old wife, Helen Sharp, were aboard the jet with their toddlers, Emma and Charlie, when it crashed (Source: Facebook)
They were traveling with their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina (left), and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr (right) (Source: Facebook)
National Transportation Safety Board officials said severe weather appeared to have been a “significant factor” in the disaster. They also said part of the jet may have broken away shortly before it struck the Florida roadway, leaving a large crater.
All nine people aboard were killed, including Filgueiras and Gregory, as well as tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45; his 40-year-old wife, Helen Sharp; and their toddlers, Emma and Charlie.
The family of four was traveling with their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, and another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, for Robinson’s birthday.
In a joint statement, the victims’ families remembered Robinson and Sharp as “devoted parents” whose two children “were the light of their lives.”
“Helen and Adam were the love affair that will last forever,” the statement 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 who they loved in return.”
The statement added: “Charmi and Rachael 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 was an entrepreneur who founded the technology company Retention and regularly spoke publicly about building a successful start-up.
Sharp ran the communications firm Influential PR and owned Helen Sharp Ceramics, an Aspen-based pottery studio.
“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 separate 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.”
