NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has condemned the conspiracy theories spreading online after a private jet crashed in Florida, killing all nine people aboard.
Isaacman, a veteran pilot with more than 8,000 hours in the air, said on X Monday that he felt compelled to respond after seeing posts falsely attributing the Learjet 60 disaster to a missile strike or diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Other posts questioned the actions of the aircraft’s 20-year-old co-pilot during her final radio communications.
“That last part is what I find most troubling,” Isaacman wrote, defending Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras’ conduct as the aircraft descended at a rate of more than 20,000 feet per minute.
“She was the second-in-command (SIC), and although she was empowered to identify mistakes under proper crew resource management, she was doing her job. She remained in communication with [air traffic control] until the very end of an unimaginable emergency.”
He added that Filgueiras may have understood long before some of her final transmissions that she was unlikely to survive.
Isaacman also rejected criticism focused on Filgueiras’ age and experience. He explained that charter operators commonly assign less experienced commercial pilots to fly alongside senior captains, and noted that she possessed the Federal Aviation Administration qualifications required for the role.
The NASA chief addressed the disturbing dashcam video and cockpit audio that have circulated widely, saying he understood why the public was seeking answers after watching the footage and hearing the recordings.
“But you do not know the aircraft’s maintenance history, whether there was a structural failure, whether a failure was triggered by turbulence, overspeed or overcontrol, or everything that was unfolding inside that cockpit,” Isaacman said.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman criticized online conspiracy theories following the Learjet 60 crash in Florida
He defended 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, who was co-piloting the Learjet 60 when it crashed near West Palm Beach
Federal investigators are likely to examine Sunday’s weather conditions as they work to establish why the Learjet plunged from the sky, Isaacman said, but he cautioned that anything beyond the known facts remains speculation.
“Let people investigate, learn and share the facts,” he urged. “Be respectful of those who perished and the families who carry their memories.”
Tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 45, his wife Helen Sharp, 40, their nanny, two friends and their two children were aboard the Bahamas-bound aircraft when it crashed into a road in Greenacres, Florida, creating a huge crater, Our News Outlet has reported.
The twin-engine business jet departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas at 10:37 a.m. ET on Sunday. It was flying east at 35,000 feet when Filgueiras warned air traffic control that the aircraft was losing altitude.
“Descending 20,000 feet per minute… we’re going to crash into the ground,” the co-pilot said. In the background, pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, could be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
The cockpit recording captured Filgueiras trying to explain the unfolding emergency to air traffic controllers during the final moments before the Learjet 60 went down.
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She reportedly said the aircraft had rolled to a 60-degree bank, leaving it flying almost sideways, while also relaying changes in altitude.
Our News Outlet has decided not to publish the final moments of the recording because of their extremely distressing nature.
Disturbing dashcam footage showed the Learjet 60 diving into an intersection before erupting in flames
Adam Robinson, 45, and Helen Sharp, 40, were traveling with their children Emma, four, and Charlie, two, when the jet crashed
In the minutes before the crash, Filgueiras was also messaging her boyfriend, who is a fellow pilot, about the severe conditions surrounding the flight.
Her family told the New York Post that she texted her boyfriend Justin shortly before the disaster: “I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice.”
National Transportation Safety Board officials now believe severe weather was a “significant factor” in the crash. They also said part of the aircraft appeared to have separated before impact.
Investigators said the pilots requested an additional 2,000 feet of altitude after encountering a thunderstorm, shortly before the jet spiraled toward the ground.
The aircraft came down approximately eight miles from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club. Trump and Air Force One had departed Palm Beach International Airport about an hour before the crash.
The impact scattered wreckage over a wide area and tore a huge crater into the road, but officials said no one on the ground was killed or injured.
Filgueiras warned air traffic control that the jet was in serious trouble moments before the crash
The crash carved a massive crater into the roadway and damaged nearby infrastructure
Several aviation specialists have suggested that the aircraft may have encountered “coffin corner” while attempting to climb over two storm systems, known as cells.
The term refers to a high-altitude flight condition in which an aircraft’s minimum safe speed and maximum safe speed become dangerously close, leaving pilots with only a narrow margin for safe control.
If the aircraft slows too much or accelerates beyond its safe limit, it can stall and become uncontrollable within seconds.
