Nathalia Gadelha, 20, has been identified as the co-pilot of the Learjet 60 that crashed on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida. All nine people on board were killed.
Her mother, Camila, and stepfather confirmed to The New York Post that Gadelha was part of the crew on the plane, which was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. They said the plane suddenly lost altitude before crashing in Palm Beach.
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Air traffic control recordings capture the moments before the crash. In the audio, Gadelha can be heard shouting, “Look out the window, Jeff!” as she warns that the plane is going down. A man can also be heard praying in the same recording.
According to reports, the plane was descending at a rate of more than 20,000 meters per minute. It crashed into a mobile home park, leaving a large crater and bringing down power lines.
Gadelha grew up in Palm Beach. In 2023, local media reported on her after she obtained her pilot’s license at age 17, before getting her driver’s license. Her goal was to become a pilot for a commercial airline.
She began flight training in 2020. When she was interviewed by CBS12, she had completed 88 flight hours and passed her theory exams. The Palm Beach County School District’s Aviation Academy covered the cost of her license.
In that interview, Gadelha said she liked doing things differently from other people: she did not yet know how to drive a car, but she could fly a plane.
She graduated from West Boca Raton High School and completed her studies at American Flyers, a flight school based in Texas with locations in Florida.
In one of her final social media posts, the 20-year-old shared a video from a flight with her partner, Justin. The caption said they were both pilots under 21 and held commercial, multiengine, and instrument ratings.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash and the exact circumstances of the accident.
