The copilot of a Learjet that crashed in Florida, killing all nine people on board, texted her boyfriend about experiencing turbulence just minutes before the fatal incident, her family told the New York Post.
Nathalia Filgueiras, 20, was reportedly in contact with her loved ones and air traffic control until the aircraft nosedived and impacted the ground in Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon. Her stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, 44, said Filgueiras sent a text message to her boyfriend at approximately 12:40 p.m., with the crash occurring around 12:50 p.m.
"She just said, 'I've got turbulence, I've got ice,'" Corteleti told The Post.
Filgueiras, who had accumulated around 1,300 hours of flying experience despite her young age, frequently shared photos and videos of herself and her boyfriend in the air. She obtained her pilot's license at age 17, before getting her driver's license.
"I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly,'" she told CBS12 in an interview at the time of her license attainment.
The Learjet was en route from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it crashed. The identities of the other passengers have not yet been released. Harrowing audio from the moments before the crash appears to capture the other pilot reciting the Lord's Prayer as Filgueiras expresses alarm about the plane's descent.