Allan Filgueiras praised his daughter, co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, at a news conference after she died in a Learjet 60 crash in Florida. (Foto: Instagram)
Allan Filgueiras said he was proud of his daughter, Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, a 20-year-old Brazilian co-pilot who died when a Learjet 60 crashed in Florida. Speaking at a news conference Friday, Nov. 6, he praised her courage during the emergency before the Nov. 1 crash, which killed nine people.
“She made me very proud. She showed me what it means to be a hero,” Allan said. He added that many people, including military personnel, might struggle to handle such a situation, while Nathalia remained at work “until the very last minute, fighting.”
Allan also said he had listened repeatedly to recordings of the crew’s communications with air traffic controllers in the moments before the crash, hoping to find clues that could help explain what happened. The circumstances of the crash are under investigation by U.S. authorities.
Nathalia was serving as co-pilot aboard the Learjet 60 when it went down in a residential area of Palm Beach County, near Military Trail and 10th Avenue North. The crash occurred shortly after 1 p.m. and triggered an explosion. It left a crater in the pavement and scattered debris across the area.
Born in Miami, Nathalia grew up in a Brazilian family and developed a passion for aviation. She began studying to fly in 2020, shortly before starting her junior year of high school. Her father had taken up flying as a hobby in 2018, and she earned her private pilot’s license in September 2023, at age 17—before she had a driver’s license.
Allan recalled that he initially instructed Nathalia when they flew together, but she later became his instructor. She would tell him he was not being as demanding with him as he had been with her, he said. His response was that she could be demanding.
Recordings from the flight captured Nathalia reporting problems involving ice and turbulence. She then declared an emergency and told air traffic controllers the plane was descending rapidly, at 10,000 feet per minute. A later report indicated the descent had reached 20,000 feet per minute. One recorded statement was, “We’re going to hit the ground.”
Nine people died in the crash. In addition to Nathalia and 55-year-old captain Jeff Gregory, those aboard included technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44; his wife, Helen; their children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr; and nanny Anita Maria Apellido Cetina.
