Anita Cetina, 24, called her sister before the crash (Image: Family Handout)
One of the people killed in the harrowing Learjet plane crash in Florida made a heartbreaking final call before the jet took off, it has emerged. Nanny Anita Cetina spoke to her sister, Angie, before she and the two pilots, a millionaire tech entrepreneur, his wife, their two young children, and two friends departed from Austin, Texas, for the Bahamas last Sunday.
All nine on board the business jet died after it nose-dived and crashed into a street in Greenacres, near West Palm Beach. An investigation into what caused the incident is ongoing.
Angie said she spoke to her sister via video call, with Angie showing her the children and the plane. Speaking to the US Sun, she said her sister was “very happy”.
Angie added: “She was truly happy because she had never been to the Bahamas, and even though she was working, she didn’t see it as work. She enjoyed it.”
The Learjet plane erupted into a fireball as it slammed into the ground, leaving behind a crater and a wide debris field. Co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, 20, made a desperate mayday call to air traffic control over the radio as the plane rapidly descended.
All nine people on board the Learjet plane died as it crashed in Greenacres, Florida (Image: Matias J Ocner/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
“722 Bravo Delta, we’re descending 8,000. Mayday, Mayday, we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute!” she was heard yelling. Ms Filgueiras kept updating air traffic control on their speed and altitude in the moments before the crash.
She reported the aircraft was in overspeed and descending 20,000 feet per minute, before frantically warning they were about to “crash” and were “out of time”. Soon after, the jet smashed into the ground.
Tech founder Adam Robinson, 44, his wife, Helen Sharp, and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were among the victims. The couple’s friends, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, also died.
In the final moments before the crash, the pilot in command, Jeff Gregory, 55, appeared to recite the Lord’s Prayer. Ms Filgueiras’ father, Allan Filgueiras, told reporters he wished he could have been on the flight to help his daughter.
“I wanted to be by her side. Inside the plane, to help,” Mr Filgueiras, who helped teach his daughter to fly, told a news conference earlier this week. While holding back tears, he called his daughter his “soulmate,” saying he was proud of her for keeping a cool head during the emergency.
“I did listen to [her radio transmissions] many times, trying to find a clue in my head how that happened. And wow, she’s tough,” he said. Ms Filgueiras was heard telling air traffic control about ice buildup on the plane as it flew into a thunderstorm.
Turbulence tossed the aircraft up and down by 700 feet (200 meters), but the situation quickly escalated as it began plummeting to the ground. The weather is a “major focus” of the investigation by the US’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Pieces of the aircraft’s tail were found miles away from the crash site. The cockpit recorder remains missing.
