A brief text about turbulence and ice has become one of the clearest personal accounts of the Learjet 60’s final minutes. Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot, reportedly messaged her boyfriend shortly before the jet crashed in Palm Beach County on November 1. All nine people aboard died.
Her stepfather, Thiago Corteleti, told the New York Post that Filgueiras sent the message at about 12:40 p.m., roughly 10 minutes before the crash. “She just said, ‘I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice,’” he recalled. The aircraft was flying from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to North Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
That message offers a window into the conditions the crew faced, but it doesn’t establish why the aircraft went down. The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation is still underway, with icing, turbulence, precipitation, a rapidly developing storm cell and a possible breakup in flight among the details investigators are examining.
What the crew reported before the crash
Air traffic control recordings provide a second account of the emergency. Filgueiras reportedly told controllers the jet was descending at about 10,000 feet per minute. A later transmission described an overspeed condition and a descent of around 20,000 feet per minute. In the recording, she says, “We are going to crash into the ground.”
The New York Post reported another line attributed to Filgueiras, apparently directed to the captain, Jeff Gregory: “Look outside, Jeff! Look outside. Holy f–k. We’re out of time.” The recording reportedly captures Gregory reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
Mikaela Schluth, a longtime friend of Filgueiras, told CBS News that listening to the audio was “probably the worst thing I’ve ever heard.” She also said she felt proud of her friend for continuing to communicate information during the emergency. Those reactions speak to the human weight of the recording; the investigation will have to establish what the cockpit audio, flight data and physical evidence show about the aircraft’s behavior.
The investigation centers on a rapid descent
The NTSB said the crew reported light clear icing and moderate turbulence at about 35,000 feet. They also reported precipitation and altitude deviations. According to WPTV’s account of the NTSB briefing, the crew initially considered the icing manageable. The aircraft was then cleared to climb; less than 30 seconds later, the crew reported an emergency descent.
Investigators are also considering whether the jet started to break apart before hitting the ground. NTSB board member Tom Chapman said aircraft parts found some distance from the main crash site pointed to a possible in-flight breakup. That remains a line of inquiry, not a confirmed explanation for the crash.
Weather is another focus. Former NTSB chair Robert Sumwalt told CBS News that investigators would need to examine atmospheric factors including icing and thunderstorms. Weather data suggested the aircraft may have encountered a storm cell that intensified rapidly. The agency has not determined a cause and is working to establish whether the cockpit voice recorder can be recovered.
The available reports describe a short interval between the crew’s account of icing and turbulence and the steep descent. They leave key questions open: how conditions changed, what prompted the emergency, and whether the aircraft suffered structural damage before impact. Until investigators finish examining the evidence, the texts and transmissions provide fragments of the final flight rather than a complete account.
Aviation had been Filgueiras’ ambition since her teens
Filgueiras began taking flying lessons in 2020, according to reports. In 2023, while attending West Boca Raton Community High School, she earned her private pilot’s license at 17. She once joked to CBS12 about the contrast between flying and driving: “I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly.’”
Her family said she had spent years building her aviation experience. Reports put her flight time at 1,300 hours. Her mother, Camila, told the New York Post that Filgueiras had worked as a commercial pilot for nine months. She described being proud that her daughter had pursued the career she wanted, even as she feared where it could lead.
“I wanted her to live her dream, but I knew that her dream was going to be the thing that would take her away from me,” Camila said from her home in Palm Beach County. “I knew that a plane was gonna take her away from me. I always knew it, but I was so proud of her. I know she was living her dream.”
Nine people died in the neighborhood crash
Filgueiras and Gregory, 55, were among the nine people killed. Passengers reportedly included Texas technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife, Helen Sharp, their two young daughters, their nanny and two friends. Robinson led software companies Retention.com and RB2B; Sharp was a ceramics artist.
The jet crashed near the entrance to a mobile home community, leaving a large crater and starting a fire. The impact also damaged power infrastructure. Palm Beach County authorities said about 600 people were affected by the displacement from the surrounding area. Early reports said nobody on the ground had been injured, but later reporting identified a person in a nearby vehicle who suffered a leg injury.
Former Department of Transportation inspector general Mary Schiavo told CNN, “It’s clear, whatever happened, they had lost control of the plane.” That assessment reflects the severity of the descent described in the recordings; investigators still need to determine the sequence of events and what caused the crew to lose control.
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For now, the most concrete account of the flight’s final stretch is a combination of the crew’s reported warnings, the rapid descent described in air traffic control audio and the NTSB’s initial findings on weather conditions. The investigation’s next evidence, including any recoverable cockpit recording, will determine how those pieces fit together.
