'I Always Knew': Mother of Learjet Co-Pilot Feared Plane Crash Before Tragic Final Text

Investigators say the jet may have broken apart midair after the crew reported ice aboard

Nathalia Filgueiras earned her pilot’s licence at 17 and had logged over 1,300 flight hours before the deadly Florida crash Photo: @Queen_Harriet_A/X

The mother of Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot killed when a Learjet 60 crashed in Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday, said she always feared flying would claim her daughter, before details of a final text emerged.

Air traffic control audio captured a Learjet 60 declaring an emergency over an overspeed condition as it plunged at 20,000 feet per minute near Greenacres, Florida, on Sunday, killing all nine aboard after the crew had reported manageable ice and moderate turbulence minutes earlier in thunderstorms. https://t.co/6OLNlPEijb
— Jim Manzon (@manzonjj) November 2, 2026

Camila Corteleti told the New York Post she had long dreaded the day aviation would take her daughter, even as she watched her chase a childhood ambition. 'I wanted her to live her dream, but I knew that her dream was going to be the thing that would take her away from me,' she said. 'I knew that a plane was gonna take her away from me. I always knew it but I was so proud of her.'

The Final Text Before the Crash

Filgueiras' stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, said she messaged her boyfriend, a fellow pilot, roughly 10 minutes before the aircraft went down. The message read, 'I've got turbulence, I've got ice.' Her family has not said whether they grasped the danger she faced.

Investigators Examine Weather and Breakup

The Learjet 60 had left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport bound for North Eleuthera in the Bahamas when it plunged into a Palm Beach County neighbourhood around 1pm. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Tom Chapman said early evidence pointed to the aircraft breaking apart in the air before impact. 'We do have some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact,' he said, adding that debris could be scattered from the crater. MyRadar weather analysis showed the jet approaching a rapidly developing storm cell.

Weather is a central focus, although investigators have not determined the cause. Air traffic control recordings captured the crew reporting an overspeed condition and a descent of 20,000 feet (6,096 metres) per minute.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigator, suggested key parts of the jet's tail may have been lost in the turbulence, potentially leaving the crew unable to maintain control. Audio captured by LiveATC.net recorded the crew reporting light clear ice and moderate turbulence beforehand.

A Licence Before a Driver's Licence

Filgueiras earned her pilot's licence at 17 while still a student at West Boca Raton High School, before obtaining a driver's licence. She had logged more than 1,300 hours, worked for the Fort Lauderdale charter firm Upper Jets, and had flown commercially for about nine months. She would have turned 21 in January. She had fallen in love with flying as a child alongside her father, a recreational pilot, and had hoped to join a major airline.

Questions Over Who Was in Command

Records indicated Filgueiras held the rating to fly the Learjet 60 model but not to act as pilot in command. Her mother said she did not know the identity of the second pilot, and investigators have not confirmed who was at the controls as the jet fell.

All nine people aboard died, including a family of four with two young children. One man on the ground was injured, and about 600 residents were displaced. The investigation could take months, but for Corteleti, the outcome already matched a fear she had carried for years.