Florida Learjet crash: 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha identified among nine dead
- Nathalia Gadelha, 20, was the co-pilot on a Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday.
- All nine people on board died when the jet, flying from Texas to the Bahamas, went down near a mobile home park.
- Her family confirmed her death; US aviation authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.
A 20-year-old woman who earned her private pilot's licence while still in secondary school has been named as the co-pilot killed in a private jet crash in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday.
Nathalia Gadelha was aboard a Learjet 60 flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when the aircraft went down near a mobile home park, according to US aviation authorities. All nine people on board died.
Her mother and stepfather confirmed she was on the flight, US media reported. Some outlets gave her full name as Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the jet crashed near Cresthaven at about 12:50 p.m. local time on Sunday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the death toll of nine the same afternoon.
From school licence to cockpit
Gadelha began flying lessons in 2020, learning partly from her father, who took up recreational flying in 2018. She obtained her private pilot's licence at 17 while studying at West Boca Raton High School, with training sponsored through the School District of Palm Beach County's Aviation Academy.
In a 2023 interview with local station CBS12, she spoke about getting her wings before her driver's licence: "I definitely do brag because people say, 'Oh, you can't drive,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, but I can fly.'"
She had logged 88 hours of flight time at that point and later graduated from American Flyers flight school. She wanted to become a commercial airline pilot.
In a social media post, she noted that she and her boyfriend had both earned commercial, multi-engine and instrument qualifications, along with instructor ratings, before turning 21.
What happens next
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating what caused the jet to descend sharply and burst into flames on impact.
