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The Learjet 60 appears to be the same jet involved in the fatal crash in Palm Beach this weekend that killed all nine people on board after it went down in Florida.
Concerned audio reveals that the Learjet that crashed in Florida received a warning from air traffic control in the months before the tragedy that claimed nine lives, according to reports.
The warning came after the crew struggled to maintain altitude in severe turbulence. The Learjet 60 appears to be the same part involved in the fatal crash in Palm Beach this weekend that killed all nine people on board.
The passengers of the private jet have now been named as multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44, Helen, 40, their two children Emma, four, and Charlie, two, their nanny Anita Maria Cetina and two family friends Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
The captain of the plane during the crash on Sunday afternoon has since been identified by TMZ as Jeff Gregory, 55, who died next to his co-pilot, 20-year-old Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras.
The US Sun reported that it had obtained audio of an earlier incident involving the same plane, recorded months before the tragedy.
Reports say a female pilot told air traffic control the plane was experiencing “moderate chop” and said they were unable to maintain altitude.
But the controller immediately reprimanded the crew, saying, “If you can’t maintain altitude, that’s not moderate. That’s severe turbulence.”
The dramatic exchange, first reported by MailOnline from the ATC app, took place in May as the plane flew near Newark, New Jersey.
According to The Sun, the controller can be heard first: “November Two Bravo Delta, why are you climbing?” The female pilot replied, “We just wanted to call you.
“We are experiencing a moderate chop and cannot maintain altitude, Two Bravo Delta.”
The controller replied, “That’s not moderate. Right down to four thousand.”
The controller then warned the pilots about another business jet in the area. A male pilot then described the conditions again, telling the controller, “We have a moderate chop, sir.”
But the controller pushed back again and said, “If you can’t maintain altitude, that’s not moderate. That’s severe turbulence. Are you experiencing severe turbulence?”
Both pilots repeatedly answered: “Affirmative.”
The controller later asked if anyone on board had been injured, with the female pilot replying: “No injuries so far, but we are still experiencing severe turbulence.”
The identities of the pilots who spoke during the incident in May have not been confirmed, and it remains unclear whether the woman was the co-pilot of the Learjet crash on Sunday. But the plane involved in the scare was the same Learjet 60 that crashed Sunday, with the same FAA registration, N722BD.
The co-pilot of Sunday’s tragic accident, Nathalia, earned her private pilot’s license at the age of just 17, before she even had a driver’s license. She started flying lessons in 2020 and also received guidance from her father, who took up flying as a hobby in 2018.
Although she was only 20 years old, Nathalia already had around 1,300 hours of flight experience, according to her family.
The National Transportation Safety Board has since said the plane was flying through temperatures of -50 degrees Fahrenheit when it began to encounter those conditions.
During the flight, the 20-year-old co-pilot sent a message to Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers, saying the flight crew was managing the ice.
But due to the stormy conditions, she asked air traffic control officials if the flight team could ascend to 37,000ft, which was approved.
Less than 30 seconds later, a distress call came in at 12:48 a.m. Sunday from the Learjet 60 crew, saying, “We are in a flood condition, descending 20,000 ft per minute.”
National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman confirmed the content of the call at a press conference on Monday.
As the situation worsened, Filgueiras continued to plead for help: “We’re going down 8,000 – mayday, mayday – we’re going down 10,000ft a minute.”
The captain could then be heard reciting the Lord’s Prayer before Nathalia said “holy f**k we’re out of time” and the Learjet’s audio went silent.
At a press conference, Mr. Chapman said that investigators have new details.
He said: “We have some evidence that there was some ejection from the aircraft prior to impact.” While investigators said the Learjet debris field and crater crater stretched across the surrounding area.
The weather will be a major focus of the investigation, with officials investigating severe turbulence, icing and storm conditions before the jet suddenly lost altitude.
The board sent about 20 investigators to examine the jet’s structures and systems, weather conditions, air traffic control communications and flight recording equipment.
