Philadelphia Plane Crash Leaves 7 Dead, 19 Injured, Authorities Confirm

PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia – Seven victims have died, and 19 more have been injured in an aircraft crash in Philadelphia. A medevac aircraft was destroyed during the nighttime in Northeast Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed the deaths of six people on the plane and added that there was a further death of a passenger in their car at the time that the medical plane fell to the ground after an explosive explosion.

She thanked the first responders and said crews and investigators worked all night and would investigate what transpired.

“We will find a cause for this tragedy, ” she declared.

The six passengers on the aircraft were from Mexico and included a small girl who had been treated at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, her mother, the medical team, and the pilots, as stated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance Spokesperson Shai Gold.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the deaths and expressed condolences to the families affected in a post posted on Saturday morning on X, which was previously Twitter.

“I grieve the loss of six Mexicans from the crash of an airplane that occurred in Philadelphia, United States. Consular authorities are always in contact with their families; I’ve contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist them in whatever is needed,” she said in an article on X translated by a USA Today reporter. “My solidarity goes out to their families and friends.”

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the aircraft left Northeast Philadelphia Airport and crashed at around 6:15 p.m. Friday when it was heading to the Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. The plane crashed near the Roosevelt Mall at Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, a busy area with numerous businesses and many homes.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro thanked federal officials for their assistance investigating the crash and reiterated a message of unification after the tragedy.

“This is not just a group of emergency response professionals working together at the state, local, and federal level; this is neighbors working together to look out for one another,” the official said on Saturday morning.

The incident in Philadelphia follows the aftermath of the midair crash in Washington, D.C. that killed the lives of 67. The collision between the Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane in the capital city was the most fatal U.S. passenger air crash in more than two decades.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the site. The FAA confirmed that it would assist with the investigation.

President Donald Trump on Friday night saluted the first responders and expressed condolences to the victims of the attack in a Truth Social tweet.”So sad to witness the plane crash in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls are lost,” Trump wrote. “Our citizens are fully engaged. First Responders have already been acknowledged for their outstanding work. More will follow. God bless you, everyone.” The air traffic control discovered a problem just before the crash

Air traffic controllers seemed to spot a problem in the recorded audio of their calls just minutes before the fatal crash on Friday night.

The Medevac pilot didn’t mention any problems over the radio, but Air traffic control could pick up an indication that something was wrong.

“Medevac med service zero-five-six, northeast tower, are you on frequency?” A controller asks nearly four minutes following the jet’s takeoff at Northeast Philadelphia Airport in an audio file downloaded from liveatc.net.

After a few minutes, another voice was heard. What’s going on there? “We have a lost aircraft, ” the operator replies.

Crews look over the crash site.

Adam Thiel, managing director of the City of Philadelphia, said crews are conducting house-to-home searches around the crash site to discover any hidden damage. He said it could take some time until the full extent of the accident is revealed.

The area of the impact was around six to four blocks in size. The debris extended to areas further away.

The child on the plane was taken to Philadelphia to receive treatment.

Gold stated that Jet Rescue was contracted to take this child from Philadelphia, United States, to Tijuana, Mexico. Gold said that a third-party charitable group paid for the trip; however, he was unable to reveal details about the charity.

“Our heart goes out to the families,” Gold stated. “It’s an irreplaceable loss.”

Shriner’s Hospital Philadelphia reported that they were treating the girl and then celebrated her departure prior to the flight on Friday, as per the interview that a hospital official gave the station CBS3 in Philadelphia.

Gold previously had an accident that killed five people on the 2023 border of Mexico in which five crew members perished, Gold said.

LearJet 55 LearJet 55 is one of the biggest available jets, and Jet Rescue is among the few air ambulance firms that employ them. Although they’re costly, they are an “exceptionally reliable jet.” Jet Rescue flies 600 to 700 flights every year across the globe. The number of flights the LearJet 55 took the five days prior to the crash is not unheard of, Gold said.

The company’s staff training is higher than the industry standard. The fleet’s aircraft are “well-maintained,” and safety is very seriously considered, calling every flight”a “holy mission.”

“Every flight is like it’s the first flight we ever did,” Gold declared. “IF a red light goes on in the cockpit, the plane is grounded no matter where it is.”

‘Help us, help us’

Philadelphia resident Michael Hitchner was sitting in an unoccupied car when a plane crashed nearby. He told reporters that he put on his shirt in an attempt to stop the bleeding that was leaking from the head of a child who was injured when debris hit the car’s windshield.

“The parents were screaming, “Help us, aid us, we need help! ‘” Hitchner said. He also said both he and his wife witnessed another carnage, too. “My wife was able to see a disembodied foot. I witnessed an arm disembodied. I saw medical equipment all over the place,” Hitchner said.”It was an extraordinarily shocking and frightening incident, seeing all that had occurred. When I returned home. I had to throw up two times. “

‘No donations’ needed, mayor says

Mayor Parker encouraged those looking for ways to aid those affected by that tragedy to remember the city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mayor Parker stressed that “no donations are needed at this time” at an event on Saturday.

She added that officials were working to develop “formal, actionable ways” for people to help the tragedy.

Details about the plane emerge.

According to the flight tracking service online Flight Aware, the aircraft is white and red and is 43 years old. It’s a Learjet 55 registered to Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operates across Miami in the United States and Mexico.

In the last few days, the plane has passed by airports in Mexico, Haiti, Florida, and Arizona. On Jet Rescue’s website, the aircraft has been shown in a video that explains how Jet Rescue can extract patients across the globe and appear in the air. The video highlights the company’s “impeccable safety record. “