Training required to co-pilot a private jet at 20 after NASA chief speaks out on Florida jet audio
Warning: This article contains graphic discussions which some readers may find distressing.
More details are emerging about a deadly Learjet 60 crash that claimed the lives of nine people in Palm Beach County.
The privately owned aircraft was operating a flight from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was heading to North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas, although things went wrong as it flew over Florida at 35,000 feet.
Initial reports have highlighted extreme weather as the cause of the crash, although some people online have tried to put the blame on the aircraft's 20-year-old co-pilot after old footage of her getting her pilot's license at the age of 17 has resurfaced.
Who is Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras?
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All nine on board the Learjet 60 have now been named, with 55-year-old Jeff Gregory confirmed as the captain and 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras as his co-pilot.
Audio from shortly before the crash appears to feature Gregory reciting the Lord's Prayer, while Filgueiras reportedly sent a text to her boyfriend that read: "I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice."
This is said to be just 10 minutes before the plane hit the ground and was captured bursting into flames.
Air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC include the pilots reporting that they were picking up clear ice, with them receiving clearance to climb to 37,000 feet in an attempt to escape the conditions. Less than 30 seconds later, the Learjet 60 entered a near-vertical nosedive.
Audio includes Filgueiras reporting moderate turbulence that bounced the jet up to 700 feet, before she’s heard shouting: "Mayday, mayday. We're descending 10,000 feet per minute!"
"We are in an overspeed condition, descending 20,000 feet per minute...We're going to crash into the ground."
As the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration lead an investigation, some continue to question Filgueiras' abilities. Others have jumped to her defense, including NASA chief Jared Isaacson.
Filgueiras' mother, Camila Gadelha Corteleti, also defended her to CNN Brasil, adding: "She was a very good girl – responsible, hard-working...She was the co-pilot and couldn't make any decisions."
What training is required to serve as a co-pilot at the age of 20?
Despite her young age, Filgueiras was widely considered a prodigy, and as per FAA regulations, she'd have to have earned a strict set of qualifications. This includes a baseline commercial pilot's license (CPL), which can't be obtained until you are at least 18 years old. Filgueiras' family confirmed she earned hers in March 2026 and had been working as a commercial pilot for nine months.
Resurfaced footage from 2023 includes Filgueiras speaking to local station CBS12. Here, the young pilot explained: "I definitely do brag because people say, 'Oh, you can't drive,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, but I can fly.'"
As per Fox News, she started taking flying lessons in 2020 and was helped by her father, who'd learned to fly recreationally in 2018.
In her 2023 interview, it was revealed that Filgueira accumulated 88 hours of flight time while training for her private pilot's license, which she received funding for through the School District of Palm Beach County's Aviation Academy.
To sit as a co-pilot in a large aircraft weighing over 12,500 lbs or any turbojet-powered aircraft, you need a specific type rating that Filgueiras had. As she was co-pilot instead of captain, she was fully legal to fly in the Learjet 60.
While major commercial airlines require an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate and 1,500 flight hours, private jet charter operations are different.
Still, Filgueiras' reported 1,300 hours of flying experience was said to be exceptionally high for someone of her age.
Cornell Law School reiterates that co-pilots have to be familiar with information including "operational procedures applicable to the powerplant, equipment, and systems" as well as "performance specifications and limitations," "normal, abnormal, and emergency operating procedures," the flight manual, and placards and markings.
Even though some continue to critique Filgeuiras, others online reiterate that she performed her primary communication duties with professionalism up until the final moments of the fateful flight.
Isaacson reminded the general public to let investigators do their job, telling them to let the families of those who've died grieve in peace.
