A 20-year-old copilot was among nine people killed when a Learjet 60 crashed and exploded near West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, according to US me
A 20-year-old copilot was among nine people killed when a Learjet 60 crashed and exploded near West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, according to US media.
Nathalia Filgueiras, who obtained her pilot’s licence at the age of 17, was one of two crew members flying the aircraft from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas.
The jet came down near Cresthaven, about nine miles (14 km) from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. A man in a vehicle close to the crash site suffered a leg injury.
Images showed a large, burning crater in the middle of a residential street. Wreckage was spread across sports fields, businesses and homes, officials said at a news conference on Monday, suggesting the aircraft may have broken apart before reaching the ground.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating whether ice, turbulence or human error contributed to the crash. The board later said ice and turbulence were factors.
After take-off from Austin, the crew told air traffic control they were experiencing ice and moderate turbulence.
“We are picking up precipitation, requesting to climb to 37,000 feet if able,” the crew said.
NTSB member Tom Chapman said the aircraft began descending less than 30 seconds later, followed by a mayday call. The transmission then became “unintelligible”.
“Sadly, all aboard were lost,” Mr Chapman said.
Flight analysis showed the jet was descending at several hundred feet per second. In air traffic control recordings, a crew member declared an emergency and said: “We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000ft per minute.”
The crew member then warned: “We are going to crash into the ground.” About 35 seconds after the first mayday call, the final apparent cockpit transmission was: “We’re out of time.”
Filgueiras’s mother, Camila Corteleti, confirmed her daughter’s death to US media.
“She loved the freedom. It was completely different seeing the world from the top,” Corteleti told the New York Times.
In a 2023 interview with a local CBS News affiliate, Filgueiras said she was proud to have received her pilot’s licence while still in her final year of high school.
“I like being different than everyone,” she said. “Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car, I mean I can but, a lot of people think it’s funny.”
The other eight people on board have not been identified.
Investigators are also trying to establish whether the aircraft carried a cockpit voice recorder and whether it can be recovered. The NTSB said finding the probable cause would be a “lengthy investigatory process”.
The investigation involves the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Learjet representatives, meteorologists and air traffic control experts.
Timothy Monville, an NTSB air safety investigator, said removing the wreckage from the roadway crater would be a “daunting challenge”.
Unverified social media footage appeared to show the crash from a dashboard camera.
“When you see that video, it’s a jarring thing,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said. “It’s like a missile coming down, and a massive explosion, debris going everywhere.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the incident a “horrific tragedy”. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said the crash occurred on Military Trail, a six-lane road bordered by businesses and restaurants.
Thunderstorms had been reported locally. Donald Trump was at Mar-a-Lago that morning and left from a nearby airport on Air Force One about an hour before the crash.
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