NASA ADMINISTRATOR DEFENDS CO-PILOT KILLED IN FLORIDA JET CRASH

A private Learjet 60 crashed in Greenacres, Florida, seven miles southwest of West Palm Beach, on Sunday, killing all nine people on board. The aircraft was travelling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas when it came down and burst into flames. Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, gave the jet's final radio transmissions to air traffic control and was heard screaming moments before impact in audio recordings that later emerged. Pilot Jeffrey Gregory was heard reciting the Lord's Prayer as Filgueiras told controllers "we're going to crash into the ground" shortly before the transmission went silent. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said she "was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation."

Filgueiras grew up in Palm Beach County and earned her private pilot's licence at 17, before she had a driving licence. She began flying lessons in 2020 and received guidance from her father, who took up flying as a hobby in 2018. Isaacman, who is a pilot himself, said Filgueiras "likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die." His comments followed theories circulating online that blamed diversity initiatives, a missile strike, and Filgueiras herself for the crash. Isaacman rejected those theories in defending the co-pilot's conduct during the flight's final moments.

Investigators recovered the jet's tail section some distance from the crash site as part of their examination of the wreckage. They said the crash had nothing to do with missile defence systems near the Mar-a-Lago estate, addressing one theory about its cause. The investigation into what caused the Learjet to go down continues. Isaacman's intervention came as scrutiny grew online over Filgueiras's age and experience in the cockpit.