Pilot father of 20-year-old co-pilot in Learjet crash says he’s still searching for answers

The father of the 20-year-old co-pilot who died along with eight others when a Learjet slammed into a Florida highway earlier this month says he thinks of his daughter as a hero and is waiting on answers from federal investigators about what went wrong. 

Allan Filgueiras told News’ Rhiannon Ally in an interview that aired Thursday on “Good Morning America” that he has listened to the final radio transmissions made by his daughter, Nathalia Filguerias, as the plane, which was headed from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas on Nov. 1, navigated difficult weather conditions and turbulence.

Allan Filgueiras, himself an experienced pilot, said it was “extremely painful” to listen to the recordings but that he also hears his daughter’s courage as she was the co-pilot assigned to communicate with air traffic control. 

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, before beginning a rapid descent from 35,000 feet and making a Mayday emergency call to air traffic control, the aircraft’s two-person crew reported they were experiencing icing on the aircraft and “moderate turbulence.”

Pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, was also in the cockpit alongside Filgueiras as the plane maneuvered through the difficult conditions, requested a better route, then started to rapidly descend before crashing near West Palm Beach. 

“It felt like she was alone, trying to recover an aircraft that … was un-recoverable,” Allan Filgueiras said of his daughter.

Both pilots and seven passengers were killed. The passengers were identified as Anita Maria Cetina, Charmi Fehr, Rachael Reed along with Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their two young children, Emma and Charlie. 

The NTSB is investigating the crash. 

At a news conference last week, the NTSB said the jet’s left elevator from its tail section was found in three pieces — some nearly 4 miles from the crash site. A NTSB official said it remains unclear if the loss of the left elevator contributed to the crash itself or whether forces put on the aircraft caused it to separate as the plane plummeted to the ground at a speed that exceeded its certified maximum speed.

“I need some answers to try to find peace,” said Allan Filguerias, who also defended his daughter’s skills as a pilot, calling her “gifted” and saying she was qualified to be piloting the flight. 

“There is no age to exercise a gift, and she did,” he said. “She was gifted.”

Allan Filgueiras is now working with a legal team and hoping for answers. His attorneys Andrew Yaffa and Stuart Grossman said they want to take a look at the plane and also review maintenance records for the 22-year-old twin-engine Learjet 60.

For now, Allan Filgueiras said he’s waiting on the federal investigation. 

“I want to hear what the NTSB has to say,” he said. 

Asked what he hopes comes out of the investigation, Allan Filgueiras said he knows having his daughter back is impossible. But he wants to know why. 

“Why did they go where they went?” he said. Flying a jet, you have so many resources. You had 20 minutes, you had 30 minutes, and you go around the weather. And she was so responsible. She was not a cowboy-style pilot. … So why they didn’t go around? What made them go through the routes that they went? I have a lot of questions.”