Like most people, I wish I hadn’t heard the final minutes of that tragic flight.

As a female aviator, those audio files hit differently. My mind flooded with a heavy, unyielding current of thoughts. For days, the ATC playback had me waking up cold at 1:00 AM every morning.

I needed to find something more than the headlines to anchor my thoughts—to understand who she was, truly, as a pilot. And as I searched, the picture became crystal clear through her tailwheel training, her upset recovery work, and her fierce devotion to the craft. She was a naturally gifted, passionate aviator.

I didn't have to know her to know she was a damn good pilot.

Aviation lost a good one.

She's the type of aviator I've met at the Air Races - passionate, talented. She's the type of pilot I would have been honored to fly with.

In times like these, we question getting back in the cockpit. The noise starts creeping in, and the internet bottom dwellers get loud, questioning things they could never begin to understand from the safety of the ground.

Then I found her January 31, 2026 post on Threads.

There she was in a red dress, candle illuminating what would become her birthday wish.

The caption said: #20, Thank you God for another year! I can't wait to see what this year brings.

Nathalia would have turned 21 in January of 2027.

In her honor, I have decided to fly 21 hours between now and then (weather and safety permitting).

My friends, female aviators, have all been jolted by this story... it's sitting heavy. And it dawned on me: there are roughly 91,000* female pilots worldwide.

If everyone flew just two hours for Nathalia, we would ring in a collective 183,960 hours in the air.

We would help her celebrate the 21st birthday she never got to see—in flight hours - in her honor. And in the sky, where the people who knew and loved her said she loved to be, just like so many of us do.

Join me.

Fly 2 for Nathalia.

If you fly - log your flight hours below, you don't need to add your name if you don't want to - come back as frequently as you fly. Let's see if we can reach 183,960 by the end of January 2027.

Disclaimer - if you join this mission, do it safely, safety first - if you haven’t flown in awhile, go up with an instructor, dust off the rust, be mindful of the weather.

*According to the Federal Aviation Administration via Women in Aviation International, women represent about 10.8% of all U.S. pilots (totaling 91,694 out of 848,770 certificated pilots.