'The Worst Thing I've Ever Heard': Friend Recalls Nathalia Filgueiras Final Call Before Learjet 60 Fatal Crash

The childhood friend of 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras has described listening to the aviator's final air traffic control transmissions as the worst experience of her life following the catastrophic Florida Learjet 60 crash that claimed nine lives.

Speaking in an emotional broadcast interview with CBS News on 3 November 2026, Mikaela Schluth paid tribute to the extraordinary composure displayed by the young aviator as the charter flight plummeted towards a residential roadway in Palm Beach County on 1 November.

Air traffic recordings captured the cockpit crew transmitting urgent distress calls while battling severe icing and turbulence at 35,000 feet, reporting an overspeed descent rate exceeding 20,000 feet per minute before impact in Greenacres.

Filgueiras, who earned her pilot credentials at 17 before obtaining a driver's licence and had accumulated more than 1,300 flight hours, perished alongside 55-year-old captain Jeffrey Gregory and seven passengers.

While National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators discovered sections of the aircraft's left elevator miles from the primary impact zone, indicating mid-air structural disintegration, Schluth expressed profound admiration for her friend's determination to feed vital flight telemetry to controllers until the aircraft's final moments.

Schluth described hearing Filgueiras' final mayday calls as 'the worst thing' she had ever heard. Schluth, who had known Filgueiras since middle school, praised her friend's composure.

The Learjet 60 had departed Austin, Texas, for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas. The aircraft later entered a rapid descent and crashed on a roadway in Greenacres.

Nathalia Filgueiras' Final Radio Calls

Air traffic control recordings captured the crew reporting the aircraft's deteriorating condition. Filgueiras identified the aircraft as '722 Bravo Delta' and said: 'We're descending 8,000, Mayday, Mayday, we're descending 10,000 feet per minute.' The crew later reported an overspeed condition while descending at 20,000 feet per minute.

In a later transmission, the crew said: 'We're going to crash into the ground.' Other reports of the audio included the words, 'We're going to die!' It is not clear from the audio which crew member made each call.

Schluth said she was proud of how her friend continued communicating with controllers. 'I'm just so proud of how she handled it and was able to stay calm and give information,' she said.

CBS News reported on 3 November that Schluth had known Filgueiras since middle school and heard the air traffic control audio. The crew's precise division of duties has not been publicly established.

A Young Pilot's Career and the Investigation

Filgueiras featured in a 2023 report by CBS affiliate WPEC while a student at West Boca Raton High School. Her family later said she had accumulated more than 1,300 flight hours.

Her mother, Camila Gadelha Corteleti, described her daughter's passion for aviation in an interview with The New York Times. 'She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top,' she said.

The NTSB is investigating; no probable cause has been established. Weather, including reported icing and turbulence, is among the areas under examination.

On 3 November, NTSB member Tom Chapman said investigators had found pieces of the aircraft's left elevator between 1.3 and 3.8 miles from the crash site.

The elevator helps control an aircraft's pitch. Its separation indicates the jet was breaking apart before impact, but investigators have not determined whether the damage caused the loss of control or resulted from forces during descent. The finding is not a final explanation.

All nine aboard died, including Filgueiras, Gregory and seven passengers. Investigators are examining wreckage and recordings to establish what happened.

For Schluth and those who knew Filgueiras, the recording of her final radio calls is a painful reminder of her last moments.