The father of Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot killed in the Palm Beach County plane crash, spoke publicly for the first time on Friday, describing his daughter as gifted and expressing a wish that he had been aboard the flight with her.
Allan Filgueiras addressed reporters at an emotional press conference, calling Nathalia his soulmate. According to TMZ.com, he said, "I wanted to be by her side inside the plane to help her, to be by her. I had to be next to her."
He said his daughter made him deeply proud and taught him what it means to be a hero. Allan remarked that many grown men in the cockpit would have been unable to handle an impending crash, but Nathalia "was the one 'til the last minute fighting," TMZ.com reported.
Allan said he has listened repeatedly to the audio of the flight's final moments, in which Nathalia communicates with air traffic control while the 55-year-old pilot, Jeff Gregory, attempts to regain control of the aircraft. "I did listen to it, many times, tried to find a clue in my head how that happened, and wow, she was tough," he told TMZ.com.
Nathalia served as co-pilot on a Learjet 60 that departed Austin, Texas, bound for the Bahamas before it went down in Palm Beach County. Nine people were aboard the aircraft, and none survived. Among those killed were Jeff Gregory and members of the family of CEO Adam Robinson.
The crash has drawn attention across Palm Beach County, where the loss of nine lives has resonated throughout the community. The remarks from Allan Filgueiras offer the first public account from a family member of one of the crew members, placing the focus on the final actions of those in the cockpit as the flight came to an end.