Co-Pilot’s Father Seeks Answers After Fatal Florida Learjet Crash

Allan Filgueiras said at a November 6 news conference that he had repeatedly listened to his daughter’s final radio calls, searching for clues about why the Learjet went down. He said the recordings also left him proud of how she handled the emergency. Nathalia was 20 and one of nine people killed in the November 1 crash near Greenacres, Florida.

In the transmission, she reported ice accumulating on the aircraft before telling air traffic control it was descending at 20,000 feet per minute. Her father said she continued communicating as the crisis unfolded. “I have to find a way to go on living,” he said.

The family’s lawyer said the news conference was intended to defend Nathalia’s reputation amid online criticism of her experience. She had logged more than 1,300 flight hours and held a commercial pilot’s license. Retired airline pilot John Cox said she had earned her place as co-pilot on the Learjet 60.

A lawsuit was filed on Allan Filgueiras’s behalf on November 5. The family is seeking answers as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates. Investigators have recovered part of an engine, and the cause of the crash has not been determined.

The Learjet was en route from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when the crew declared an emergency. The crash killed everyone aboard, including the captain and a family traveling on the plane. Authorities have said it could take about 30 days for the area to regain normal conditions, while some residents and businesses remain unable to return.