Crashed Learjet’s 20-year-old co-pilot remembered for her early love of flying

BOCA RATON, Fla. — In a neighborhood of palm-tree-lined streets and houses with perfectly manicured lawns, friends and relatives of Nathalia Filgueiras arrived at her family home to mourn the 20-year-old co-pilot who a day ago plummeted to her death in Florida aboard a Learjet 60 jet alongside eight other victims.

Filgueiras’ mother, Camila Corteleti; her older sister, Giulia Filgueiras; her stepfather, Thiago Corteleti; and her younger sister all gathered in the dining room. With eyes swollen from crying, they wore black and white as they waited to hear from authorities about her remains.

Nicole Tarantino, 21, stopped by Monday to pay her respects to the family after waking up that morning to the news that her friend died in the plane crash. She and Filgueiras had known each other since they were in elementary school.

Nathalia Filgueiras was the co-pilot on the plane that crashed Sunday.

“She was a beautiful person inside and out,” Tarantino told NBC News. Heartbroken and in tears, she said her friend always knew she wanted to be a pilot.

“When it came to picking colleges, she was looking at aviation schools,” Tarantino said. “She was dedicated. She was only 20 years old doing all of that, and she excelled at it.”

Growing up in a Brazilian household in Boca Raton, Florida, Filgueiras was inspired by her father, Allan Filgueiras, who is also a pilot. He was the one who taught her how to fly planes before she went on to earn her pilot license while still in high school.

Filgueiras got her license in 2023, when she was a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton Community High School. At the time, WPEC, a news station in South Florida, reported that the Palm Beach County School District paid for Filgueiras to get her private pilot license through the school’s aviation academy.

“Flying was her biggest passion,” Giulia Filgueiras told NBC News about her younger sister. “That was her dream, to become a pilot, since she was very young.”

Nathalia Filgueiras’ last words echoed through a distressing air traffic control call Sunday. “Mayday, mayday. We’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” she alerted.

“We’re gonna crash into the ground, 722 Bravo Delta,” she can be heard saying, followed by a scream.

Investigators examine the crash site.Greg Lovett / USA Today via Reuters

After learning of her death, Allan Filgueiras told NBC News that his daughter was a first officer, better known as the right-seat, second-in-command co-pilot who helps navigate and operate a flight alongside a captain.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said at a news conference Monday that they are still working to determine what caused the plane to crash in a neighborhood in Palm Beach County.

Tom Chapman, an NTSB member, said the Learjet 60 jet that Filgueiras was co-piloting left Texas around 10:30 a.m. ET en route to the Bahamas.

At 12:47 p.m. ET, the plane reported experiencing moderate turbulence after encountering “clear ice” 35,000 feet in the air. The pilots sent a request to move to 37,000 feet, which was granted, Chapman said. Thirty seconds later, the plane began to descend until it crashed.

At the news conference, NTSB investigators and local officials called on any witnesses who may have captured the crash on video to come forward and help with the investigation.

Those close to Filgueiras are choosing to remember the young woman for her determination in chasing her dreams.

“She was a light, and she did what she loved,” Tarantino said.

Erika Angulo reported from Boca Raton, Florida, and Nicole Acevedo from New York City.