Learjet Crash Kills Nine in Palm Beach
Investigation launched after aircraft bound for Bahamas crashes, with co-pilot's family reporting final messages about turbulence and ice.
Callum Smith
A Learjet 60 aircraft crashed in Palm Beach, Florida, killing all nine people on board.
The impact carved a large crater; no one on the ground sustained injuries. Air traffic control audio captured the flight's final, harrowing moments, including distress calls from the cockpit and the pilot reciting part of the Lord's Prayer.
Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras texted her boyfriend just before the crash, reporting turbulence and ice. Her stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, confirmed the message: "She just said, 'I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice'."
She just said, 'I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice'.
Filgueiras earned her pilot's license in 2023 at age 17, accumulating over 1,300 hours of flight time. Early reviews of flight data and radar indicate the Learjet flew directly into a fast-growing thunderstorm.
Experts speculate the jet may have succumbed to 'coffin corner', a condition where a jet's stall speed and critical Mach number converge, making controlled flight impossible. The Learjet carried a valuation of $2 million.
This incident marks the latest in a series of Learjet accidents, following a Learjet 75 crash in Mexico in 2022. Camila Corteleti, Filgueiras's mother, stated, "Everybody was so impressed with her. They hired her because they knew how good she was and how much she loved it."
She also claimed Filgueiras was behind the controls of the Learjet when it plummeted to the ground. Filgueiras's mother added, "I know if she could pick a way to go, this would be her way to go, but I didn’t want it to be so soon."