'I’ve got ice': 20-year-old co-pilot's last text to her boyfriend minutes before Florida crash

Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot of the doomed Learjet plane that crashed in Florida on Sunday, sent a text message about the terrifying situation on board to her boyfriend minutes before the fatal dive. Filgueiras was one of the nine people who lost their lives in the accident.

"I’ve got turbulence, I’ve got ice," she texted her boyfriend Justin, as identified by her family. She would have turned 21 in January. Nathalia's stepfather, Thiago Cortelet, told The New York Post that Nathalia texted her boyfriend around 12:40 pm ET, around 10 minutes before the crash.

Also Read: Florida crash: Learjet may have broken up before fatal dive, pilot heard praying in audio

Her boyfriend is also a licensed pilot. Both of them got their licenses at a very young age, as Nathalia was only 17 and still in high school at the time. Her family confirmed to the outlet that she had more than 1,300 hours of flight experience. In an audio clip from the plane, she can be heard saying, “Holy f***, we're out of time.”

Nathalia fell in love with flying at a young age

According to the local news reports, Nathalia earned her license in 2023 when she was a senior at West Boca Raton Community High School. Her achievement made her a popular face in the region. She told WPEC-TV in 2023, "Some people think that it's weird that I can fly planes, but I can't drive a car. I think it's funny." She was authorised to fly a jet but not to be in command. Her social media account was full of photos showing her aviation career at such a young age.

The Learjet 60 was flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. Dashcams caught the accident on camera, showing the plane diving and exploding. NTSB board member Tom Chapman said, "The weather conditions are a major focus of the investigation." The weather was bad, with thunderstorms and heavy rainfall. The pilots encountered ice at 35,000 feet, after which the plane started plunging at a rate of 10,000 feet per minute. "We’re descending 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we’re descending 10,000ft per minute," Nathalia can be hear saying in the audio.