BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — Editor's Note: This story is from 2023. Filgueiras was the co-pilot of the Learjet that crashed in Greenacres, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2026.
We all remember how exciting it was to get our driver’s license.
It’s a memorable moment during high school, being able to finally get behind the wheel and drive you and your friends wherever you want, but one Palm Beach County student had a different kind of license in mind.
While other students are playing sports or musical instruments during the school week or hanging out at the mall or beach on the weekends, Nathalia Filgueiras is spending her time flying airplanes.
In September, Nathalia got her Private Pilot’s License. The kicker? She got it before 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,’” said Nathalia.
CBS12 News reporter Dani Travis sat down with one senior who proved even the clouds aren’t the limit for what she can do. Nathalia Filgueiras is a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton High School who earned her Private Pilot's License before getting her driver's license. (WPEC)
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Nathalia is a 17-year-old senior at West Boca Raton High School. She started Ground School in 2020 going into sophomore year, but also gained knowledge by learning firsthand from her dad who began flying for fun in 2018.
Ground school can last between two to three years and consists of test preps, quizzes, book work in the classroom, flight simulations and watching videos. On top of coursework, you need a minimum of 40 hours of flight time with an instructor and 10 hours flying solo before you can take the test.
Nathalia has flown every day since and has 88 hours of flight time on top of passing the knowledge test to get your private pilot’s license.
She says while other kids think it’s cool to drive a car alone, she thinks it’s cooler to fly a plane now.
“I like being different than everyone, so to me I think it’s cool that like it’s not really an opportunity, I just didn’t do it, and this is how it ended up. 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 (drivers) license really bad,” said Nathalia.
The School District of Palm Beach County paid for Nathalia to get her Private Pilot's License through their Aviation Academy.
The district originally offered the private ground course to students as an elective, before becoming an official academy in August.
The academy has 125 students from freshmen to seniors. They work on block schedules and have the academy every other day for two hours. On top of classroom work, students get to work with state-of-the art simulators and drone practice.
With the Private Pilot’s License, Nathalia can fly anywhere around the country solo or with passengers if it’s not compensated. Her ultimate dream is to become a commercial airline pilot or fly pilot jets.
But until then, Nathalia is set to get her driver’s license on November 17th.