Father of 20-year-old Learjet co-pilot says she ‘fought until the last minute’
The father of a 20-year-old co-pilot killed in a private jet crash in Florida says her final radio calls show she fought to save the aircraft until the very last moment.
Nathalia Filgueiras was the co-pilot of a Learjet 60 that crashed in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, on Sunday 1 November, killing all nine people on board. Speaking publicly for the first time on Friday, her father Allan Filgueiras — himself a pilot — said he had listened to the air traffic control recording again and again, NBC News reported.
“She made me so proud,” he said. “She showed me what it is to be a hero.”
Defending her reputation
Allan Filgueiras appeared alongside family attorney Stuart Grossman, who said the aim was “to preserve not just her memory but her reputation”. The Associated Press also reported that the father defended his daughter’s abilities after the crash.
Grossman acknowledged that many people may be surprised that someone so young was co-piloting a private jet. “But wait until you see her hours, and what the government proves about her capabilities,” he said, describing her as “perfectly qualified” for the flight. He stressed the family was “not making allegations against anybody” and would wait for the official findings.
Her former flight instructor, Chris Kirk, told TODAY.com that she had remarkable natural skill and was known for turning up “overprepared” for her practical tests.
A love of flying that started young
Her father began taking her flying when she was 12 and was her first instructor. “When we were flying together, I used to instruct her. And then, she became my instructor,” he said. While still a senior at West Boca Raton Community High School, she earned her private pilot’s licence through a school district aviation programme.
In the recording, she warned that the jet was “descending 10,000 feet per minute”. Her father said he wished he could have been beside her in the cockpit. “It feels like someone is tearing the heart right out of my chest,” he said, adding that he would “find a way to make her proud”.
The victims and the investigation
The pilot was identified as Captain Jeff Gregory. Relatives named the passengers as Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, along with Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina. The family offered their condolences to everyone who lost loved ones.
The National Transportation Safety Board has sent around 20 investigators to the site and has recovered parts of one engine. No cause has yet been determined.
