Cristian Camilo

According to reporting from the New York Post, the co-pilot of the private learjet that crashed yesterday in Florida has been identified as a 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha. The article stated that Gadelha was aboard a Learjet 60 that departed Austin, Texas, bound for the Bahamas when it entered a steep, high-speed descent and crashed in a residential area of Greenacres in Palm Beach County. All nine people on board were killed. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy also publicly confirmed the nine fatalities. Flight-tracking data and air-traffic-control recordings show the crew reported icing, turbulence, and precipitation before declaring an emergency. According to the Post, Gadelha’s mother, Camila, and her stepfather confirmed to the newspaper that she was the co-pilot. The outlet further reported that she had grown up in Palm Beach County and previously received local media attention. In October 2023, while a senior at West Boca Raton High School, she earned her private pilot’s license through the School District of Palm Beach County’s Aviation Academy before obtaining a driver’s license. According to CBS12 there was documented evidence that she had accumulated approximately 88 hours of flight time, trained in part with her father, and expressed the goal of becoming a commercial airline pilot. Later social-media activity and family posts indicated she had progressed to commercial, multi-engine, instrument, and instructor ratings and had flown business jets, including the Learjet 60 type. At the time of publication, neither the NTSB nor the FAA had released the names of those on board, which is consistent with standard practice in the immediate aftermath of a fatal aviation accident while identification and next-of-kin notification processes continue.