Washington: A 20-year-old co-pilot was heard repeatedly calling for help as a Learjet 60 lost control and crashed in South Florida, according to air traffic control audio recorded moments before the accident.

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Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras was flying as co-pilot on the private jet travelling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas earlier this week. In the recording published by LiveATC.net, she can be heard reporting ice accumulation on the aircraft and moderate turbulence before declaring an emergency.

The outside air temperature was around minus 47 degrees Celsius, she reported. She also said turbulence had caused the aircraft to bounce up to 700 feet.

Moments later, Filgueiras issued a mayday call. She reported that the aircraft was descending at 10,000 feet per minute before warning that the rate had increased to 20,000 feet per minute and that the plane was heading towards the ground.

Flight data displayed on ADS-B Exchange later showed the Learjet had lost approximately 27,000 feet in one minute before crashing.

Who was Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras?

Filgueiras obtained her pilot’s licence in 2023, when she was a 17-year-old student at West Boca Raton Community High School in Florida. She earned a private pilot’s licence before obtaining a driving licence.

She began flying lessons in 2020 and also received instruction from her father, who had taken up flying as a hobby in 2018. Her school’s aviation programme, supported by the Palm Beach County School District, offered students practical training through flight simulators and drones.

Her mother, Camila Gadelha Corteleti, told CNN Brasil that Filgueiras had been working as a commercial pilot for nine months. She described her daughter as responsible and hardworking, adding that she was the co-pilot and did not have authority to make decisions about the flight.

Filgueiras’ pilot records showed that she held a rating to fly the jet but was not qualified to serve as the aircraft’s pilot in command.