The doomed Learjet co-pilot heard pleading for help in harrowing air traffic control audio before the fiery Florida crash has been identified as Nathalia Gadelha – a 20-year-old who got her pilot license while still in high school.
Gadelha’s mother, Camila, and her stepfather confirmed to The Post that she was the co-pilot flying a Learjet 60 from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it entered a steep nosedive – plummeting at over 20,000 feet per minute – and smashed into the ground in Palm Beach County on Sunday afternoon.
The young aviator, who grew up in Palm Beach County, was previously featured in local media when she got her private pilot’s license at just 17 back in October 2023 — before she even had her driver’s license.
“I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly,’” she told CBS12 in an interview at the time.
The West Boca Raton High School senior explained that she began pilot lessons in 2020, but was also taught by her dad, who learned flying for fun in 2018.
Her mother often shared posts on social media of the family flying in private jets together.
In the article, Gadelha explained that she had flown every day since ground school, building 88 hours of flight time and passing the knowledge test.
The School District of Palm Beach County’s Aviation Academy paid for her pilot’s license after introducing the program that year, in 2023.
“I like being different than everyone, so to me I think it’s cool that like it’s not really an opportunity,” Gadelha said.
“I just didn’t do it, and this is how it ended up. But I think it’s cool. Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car, I mean I can but, a lot of people think it’s funny. I think it’s funny, and I now want my [driver’s] license really bad,” she added.
Gadelha said her dream was to become a commercial airline pilot one day.
She graduated from American Flyers, an Addison, Texas-based flying school with a branch in Pompano Beach, Florida.
In a recent social media post, Gadelha shared a video of herself and her boyfriend, Justin, flying together.
“How often do you see 2 pilots under 21 with a commercial, multi-engine, instrument, CFI/CFI-I [Certified Flight Instructor/Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument],” she wrote in the overlay text.
