Just months before a private jet plunged into a residential neighborhood in Florida, killing all nine people on board, the same aircraft was involved in a tense exchange with air traffic control during another flight.
Now, audio from that May incident has resurfaced following Sunday’s devastating crash, raising new questions as investigators work to establish what happened in the aircraft’s final moments.
According to Daily Mail, the recording captures a conversation between the Learjet 60 crew and an air traffic controller who appeared concerned about the plane’s movements and the severity of the turbulence the pilots were reporting.
The aircraft, registered as N722BD, was flying over Newark, New Jersey, when a controller questioned why it was climbing in altitude.
The controller can be heard asking: “November Two Bravo Delta, why are you climbing?”
The woman replied: “We were just about to call you.”
“We’re experiencing moderate chop and unable to hold altitude, Two Bravo Delta.”
”That’s not moderate”
But the controller was quick to challenge her description of the conditions.
“That’s not moderate. Descend to four thousand immediately,” the controller instructed, before also warning the crew about another business jet in the area.
A male pilot then repeated the crew’s assessment, saying: “We’ve got moderate chop, sir.”
The controller was not convinced.
He responded: “If you can’t maintain altitude, that’s not moderate. That’s severe turbulence. Are you experiencing severe turbulence?”
Both pilots answered repeatedly: “Affirmative.”
The controller later asked whether anyone on board had been hurt. The female pilot replied: “No injuries as of now, but we’re still experiencing severe turbulence.”
Iremains unclear who was speaking in the recording and authorities have not confirmed the identities of the crew members heard, and there is no evidence that the woman in the audio was 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras, who died in Sunday’s crash.
Nine people killed in devastating Florida crash
The Learjet 60 was traveling from Austin, Texas, and was expected to continue to the Bahamas on Sunday, November 1. Instead, it crashed in Palm Beach County, striking a residential area and erupting into a massive fireball.
All nine people aboard were killed.
Among the victims were technology entrepreneur Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp and their two young children, Emma, four, and Charlie, two. Their nanny, Anita Maria Cetina, was also on board, along with Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
The aircraft was being flown by 55-year-old pilot Jeff Gregory and his 20-year-old co-pilot, Nathalia Filgueiras, who had earned her pilot’s license while still in high school – before she even had her driver’s license.
Former NFL star speaks out
The tragedy has also taken on an even more personal dimension after former NFL player Joe Mixon, 30, revealed that he had flown aboard the same Learjet 60 just last month.
Mixon said he had traveled with the same two pilots, Gregory and Filgueiras, and remembered them fondly.
The former Cincinnati Bengals running back described the pair as ”incredible professionals and genuinely wonderful people.”
He added: ”Hearing the young woman’s story and learning about the bright future she had ahead of her makes it even more heartbreaking that her life was cut so short.”
The 30-year-old athlete also shared his condolences, saying: ”My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to the grieving families and loved ones of everyone on board.”
As investigators continue their work, the earlier cockpit recording offers another piece of the aircraft’s history. But at this stage, there is no established link between the May turbulence incident and Sunday’s crash, and the cause of the disaster remains under investigation.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the crash as ”cataclysmic.”
Referring to footage of the moment the aircraft struck the ground, he said: ”It looked like a missile going down.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have launched investigations into the disaster. According to BBC, investigators suspect that parts of the private jet may have broken away midair before it crashed in Florida.
The May recording is now among the details attracting attention as investigators examine the aircraft’s history and try to determine what led to the fatal crash.
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