Father of 20-Year-Old Learjet Co-Pilot: She Fought to the Last Minute While Others Would Have Folded
Allan Filgueiras says his daughter Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot killed in last Sunday’s Learjet crash in Palm Beach County, stayed in the fight right up to the end.
“I wanted to be by her side, inside the plane, to help,” Filgueiras told WSVN. “She made me so proud. She showed me what it is to be a hero. Because once you see death coming, a lot of the big boys, military or whatever, they can’t handle. And she was the one over there, to the last minute, fighting.”
The Learjet 60 had left Austin for the Bahamas with two crew and seven passengers. It entered a steep dive and slammed into the ground near Greenacres, killing everyone aboard. Filgueiras, himself a pilot, has listened to the cockpit transmissions repeatedly, searching for answers.
“And I did listen to that many times, trying to find a clue in my head how that happened. And wow, she’s tough.”
Nathalia had earned her private pilot’s license while still in high school and had been working as a commercial pilot for about nine months. Her father described a young woman who stayed composed when the situation turned critical, refusing to quit even as the aircraft was lost.