Investigation Underway After Deadly Learjet 60 Crash in South Florida Kills Nine

Image: Nathalia Figueiras.

Federal investigators have launched an investigation into the crash of a Learjet 60 in South Florida that killed nine people, including 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, whose voice was heard in the aircraft’s final communications with air traffic control.

Authorities are working to determine what caused the business jet to enter a devastating descent that reached more than 30,000 feet per minute before disappearing from radar.

Filgueiras, a U.S. citizen and the daughter of Brazilian immigrants, was raised in Palm Beach County, Florida. She earned her private pilot’s license at age 17 while still in high school and later graduated from one of the nation’s most respected aviation academies based in Texas.

Relatives in Brazil are now preparing to travel to the United States following the tragedy. Family members described aviation as Filgueiras’ lifelong passion. Her half-brother told a local television station that she had dreamed of becoming a pilot from the moment they met.

According to preliminary information, Filgueiras was speaking with air traffic controllers during the flight’s final moments. Audio recordings indicate she reported moderate turbulence, icing conditions and the crew’s attempt to seek “better conditions” at a different altitude.

Less than a minute later, the Learjet entered a sudden and dramatic descent, losing altitude at a rate exceeding 30,000 feet per minute before vanishing from radar screens.

The Learjet 60 is a high-performance business jet widely used in corporate aviation. Witnesses on the ground reportedly described the impact as so intense that some initially believed they had heard or seen a missile strike.

The aircraft type is also known in Brazil because of the 1996 crash that killed the popular rock band Mamonas Assassinas.

In addition to Filgueiras, those killed in the crash included pilot Jeff Gregory; businessman Adam Robinson; his wife, Helen Sharp; the couple’s two children, 4-year-old Emma and 2-year-old Charlie; their nanny, Anita Cetina; and family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.

One person on the ground was injured.

Investigators are now examining the limited wreckage recovered from the crash site, along with flight data, weather conditions and communications records, as they work to determine the cause of one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the region in recent years.

Aviation specialists say it is too early to draw conclusions, but the investigation is expected to focus on weather conditions, aircraft performance and the sequence of events that led to the jet’s catastrophic loss of altitude.