A pilot while still in school, Natalia loses her life in a plane crash

Bangla Press Desk: Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, has been identified as the co-pilot of the Learjet involved in a catastrophic plane crash in Florida, USA. She had earned her pilot’s license at the age of just 17, while still in school, and had been working as a commercial pilot for only nine months.
On Sunday afternoon (November 1), a Learjet 60—en route from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas—crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida. After losing control in the air, the aircraft began descending at a rate of over 20,000 feet per minute before slamming into the ground and bursting into flames. All nine people on board perished in the accident.
Nathalia’s mother, Camila, and stepfather, Thiago Corteletti, confirmed her death to the American news outlet *The New York Post*. Nathalia would have turned 21 this coming January and had accumulated approximately 1,300 hours of flight experience.
Thiago Corteletti shared that, just 10 minutes before the crash, Nathalia had sent a message to her boyfriend, Justin, mentioning that the aircraft was experiencing turbulence and icing issues.
Grieving the loss of her daughter, Camila said, "I wanted her to fulfill her dreams, but I always knew that those very dreams would one day take her away from me. I always knew that, eventually, aviation would take her away."
Having grown up in Palm Beach County, Nathalia had dreamed of becoming a pilot since childhood. Her interest in flying was sparked when she began accompanying her father—who learned to fly as a hobby in 2018—in his small aircraft.
Nathalia began her pilot training in 2020 and obtained her private pilot’s license in October 2023, at the age of 17—even before she held a driver’s license. In an interview with local news outlet CBS12 regarding this, she remarked, "When people say, 'I can't drive a car,' I reply, 'Well, I can fly a plane.'"
Nathalia, a student at West Boca Raton High School, later began working as an instructor at a flight school in Florida. Subsequently, she secured a position as a commercial pilot. Her dream was to one day become a pilot for American Airlines.
Her mother, Camila, shared that everyone was always impressed by Nathalia’s skill and her passion for her work. She knew that flying was the profession her daughter truly loved—though she never imagined she would lose her so soon. Source: New York Post
BP/TD