NTSB Reveals Chilling Details of Florida Learjet Crash as Agency Probes Nathalia Filgueiras’ Role in Incident

Federal investigators said Monday they are probing the role 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras had in the crash of a Learjet that killed nine people in a horrifying crash.

The doomed $2 million private plane was flying through temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius and started to pick up ice and hit heavy turbulence, authorities said.

The plane began to break up before impact, scattering debris over a half-mile radius.

The crash site crater is also partially filled with water, hampering investigations into what exactly caused the Bombardier Learjet 60 to crash near a trailer park near Palm Beach, Florida, the National Transportation Safety Board told press on Monday.

The plane had requested to climbed to around 37,000 feet to avoid foul weather when its crew reported icing and turbulence before it suddenly plunged toward the ground.

Here’s the latest on the fatal Learjet crash in Florida

“We do have some indication the aircraft was breaking up before impact,” NTSB spokesperson Thomas B Chapman said.

The jet, which was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, was descending around 32,000 feet per minute before it exploded on the ground near a trailer park.

Investigators are still determining whether a black box recorder survived the crash, or was even on the aircraft and recording.

Among the victims was young co-pilot Filgueiras, who reportedly texted her boyfriend about icing and turbulence shortly before the disaster.

Investigators do not yet know her role in the aircraft at the fatal moment, including whether or not she had control of the plane.

The pilot and the seven passengers on board have not been named publicly.

Investigators have not determined what caused the crash or whether ice accumulation played a role.

Source: nypost.com