Photo via CBS News

Co-pilot's friend describes hearing audio of her last moments

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Cleave, K. V. (2026, November 3). Co-pilot's friend describes hearing audio of her last moments. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friend-co-pilot-florida-plane-crash-audio-worst-thing-ive-ever-heard/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-11-03 · by Kris Van Cleave

Quick Summary

A friend of Nathalia Filgueiras, the 20-year-old co-pilot who died in a Florida plane crash on Sunday, described hearing distress calls where Filgueiras reported severe descent rates to air traffic control. The Learjet 60 was traveling from Austin to the Bahamas when it crashed, killing all nine people on board. Weather data indicates the aircraft entered a thunderstorm cell shortly before the incident, raising questions about whether the pilots fully understood the danger they were facing and whether mechanical issues contributed to the crash.
Written by AI on 2026-11-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 1, 2026, a Learjet 60 carrying nine people crashed into a residential area near Cresthaven, Florida, just miles from Mar-a-Lago. The plane had departed from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas and was headed for North Eleuthera Airport in the Bahamas. Reports indicate that parts of the jet's tail were found up to 6 km away from the crash site, suggesting it may have fallen off before impact. Authorities confirmed multiple fatalities but did not specify the exact number. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the disaster, which reportedly had nothing to do with Mar-a-Lago defense systems or other local infrastructure issues. Notably, the flight was chartered by tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson for a birthday celebration in the Bahamas, including his family and close friends.

Written for “Florida Learjet Crash Investigation” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 110 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Florida Learjet Crash Investigation
Crime & Law · 111 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 6 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Independent
Hedges 2 of 15 claims Outlet record 59/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
111
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-03 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 4530 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Kris Van Cleave
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 "722 Bravo Delta, we're descending 8000 Mayday, Mayday, we're descending 10,000 ft per minute," Filgueiras said.
🔮 The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a software glitch in some that could prompt an automated flight guidance system to disengage during an aborted landing, commonly referred to as a go-around.
🔮 "Squeezing more 'utilization' out of air traffic controllers who have been understaffed, underpaid and overworked for years will weaken retention and undermine aviation safety," the senators wrote in their letter Friday.
🔮 With some 67,000 people under evacuation orders amid the , hundreds could be coming home to total losses.
Also by Kris Van Cleave
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Austin Florida Learjet NTSB Texas

Subjects

Filgueiras PERSON · 3× Austin GPE · 2× NTSB ORG · 2× Bahamas GPE · 1× Florida GPE · 1× Learjet ORG · 1× Mikaela Schluth PERSON · 1× Nathalia Filgueiras PERSON · 1× Palm Beach County GPE · 1× Texas GPE · 1×

Narrative

Among the big questions now facing investigators is whether the pilots had a clear understanding of a storm they were approaching, and whether the plane's horizontal stabilizer broke off, which would make the plane virtually uncontrollable.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-03
🔮 "722 Bravo Delta, we're descending 8000 Mayday, Mayday, we're descending 10,000 ft per minute," Filgueiras said.
2026-11-03 · CBS News
Co-pilot's friend describes hearing audio of her last moments · assertive framing

Claims (18 extracted, 0 hedged)

A longtime friend of the co-pilot who died in a Florida plane crash on Sunday said air traffic control "was definitely, probably the worst thing I've ever heard. asserted
I → die → Sunday
"The co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Filgueiras, can be heard saying in the audio recordings that the jet she was flying alongside 55-year-old captain was rapidly descending. asserted
she → hear → captain
"722 Bravo Delta, we're descending 8000 Mayday, Mayday, we're descending 10,000 ft per minute," Filgueiras said. asserted
Filgueiras → descend → minute
The messages grew increasingly alarming before the Learjet 60, which was traveling from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, ultimately in Palm Beach County, killing all nine people on board. asserted
which → grow → board
"Declare an emergency 722 Bravo Delta, we are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute," Filgueiras said. asserted
Filgueiras → "declare → minute
Mikaela Schluth, who knew Filgueiras since middle school, said she is proud of how her friend handled it, "and how she was able to stay calm and give information, up until the last minute." asserted
she → know → minute
Among the big questions now facing investigators is whether the pilots had a clear understanding of a storm they were approaching, and whether the plane's horizontal stabilizer broke off, which would make the plane virtually uncontrollable. asserted
plane → face → storm
Weather data shows the aircraft entered a rapidly intensifying thunderstorm cell shortly before the pilots reported icing and significant turbulence. asserted
pilots → show → icing
"The two scenarios in my mind, they're both atmospherically related," said Robert Sumwalt, a former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and a CBS News transportation safety expert. asserted
Sumwalt → relate → Board
"One is icing, the other is thunderstorms and turbulence associated with the thunderstorm." asserted
other → associate → thunderstorm
Typically, the Learjet 60 would have weather radar, similar to airliners. asserted
Learjet → have → airliners
Pilots also generally try to avoid thunderstorms and the turbulence associated with them. asserted
Pilots → try → them
A priority for NTSB investigators is recovering the plane's cockpit voice recorder, hoping its contents will help them better understand what occurred leading up to the crash. asserted
what → recover → crash
"The biggest obstacle that we're going to have is recovering the major wreckage from the impacted crater on the roadway," Timothy Monville, the NTSB investigator in charge, said about the crash site. asserted
Monville → go → site
Sumwalt said he is very confident investigators will determine what caused the crash and come up with recommendations to prevent something like this from happening in the future. asserted
what → say → future
The passengers have been identified as Adam Robinson and Helen Sharp, a couple from Austin, and their two young children, Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2; Rachael Reed, Charmi Fehr and Anita Maria Cetina. asserted
passengers → identify → Austin
In a joint statement, their families wrote that "Adam and Helen were devoted parents," and that "Charmi and [Rachel] were full of joy and adventure." asserted
Charmi → write → joy
And Anita Maria "showed us a legacy of unconditional love and devotion." asserted
Maria → show → love
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support