Who was Nathalia Gadelha, the 20-year-old co-pilot of the Learjet 60 that crashed near Mar-a-Lago, President Trump's residence in Florida?

Nathalia Gadelha was a 20-year-old pilot who earned her private pilot's license while still in high school, years before she could legally drive as she was identified by her family as the co-pilot aboard the Learjet 60 that crashed in Palm Beach County, Florida .

The aircraft was travelling from Austin, Texas , to the Bahamas when it came down near Cresthaven on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people on board and Gadelha 's mother, Camila , and her stepfather confirmed her role.

Gadelha had grown up in Palm Beach County and attracted local attention in October 2023 after securing her pilot's license at just 17 - at the time, she was a senior at West Boca Raton High School and had yet to obtain her driver's license.

“I definitely do brag because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t drive,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I can fly,'” Gadelha told CBS12 in an interview that year and noted her interest in aviation began several years earlier.

Gadelha started taking pilot lessons in 2020, while her father also helped teach her after learning to fly recreationally in 2018 and she had accumulated 88 hours of flight time and passed the required knowledge test.

The School District of Palm Beach County's Aviation Academy funded her pilot's license after introducing its program in 2023.

Gadelha said she had flown every day since beginning ground school, describing the opportunity as something that set her apart from other students.

Gadelha dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot

Whilst her ambitions extended beyond earning a private license, Gadelha said that she hoped to become a commercial airline pilot, pursuing a career in aviation after developing her skills at a young age.

Despite her early achievements, Gadelha was still working towards another personal milestone when she spoke to CBS12 and she joked about the contrast between being able to operate an aircraft and not yet having a driving license.

“I just didn’t do it, and this is how it ended up,” Gadelha said. “But I think it’s cool. Some people think that it’s weird that I can fly planes, but I can’t drive a car, I mean I can but, a lot of people think it’s funny. I think it’s funny, and I now want my [driver’s] license really bad.”

She later graduated from American Flyers , a flying school based in Addison, Texas , which also operates a branch in Pompano Beach, Florida . Her family had also shared photographs on social media showing them travelling together in private aircraft.

Gadelha was among nine people killed when the Learjet 60 struck a residential area near Military Trail with investigators examining the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Air traffic control recordings captured a crew member reporting turbulence and icing before declaring an emergency, with the final cockpit message reported as: “we're out of time”.