A small medical transport jet carrying a toddler and her mom together with 4 different folks was within the air for lower than a minute after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport earlier than coming down in a fiery “high-impact” crash close to a busy mall Friday night.
The Learjet 55, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, took off at 6:06 p.m. Friday, climbed to about 1,500 ft within the air after which quickly descended, Nationwide Transportation Security Board investigator Invoice Hicks advised reporters throughout a press briefing Saturday.
“Your complete flight lasted lower than a minute,” Hicks stated.
Legislation enforcement officers and emergency responders work on the scene of the airplane crash in Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 2025.
ABC Information
All six folks aboard the jet died within the crash, together with the kid, who had simply obtained care from Shriner’s Hospital in Philadelphia and was returning dwelling together with her mom. There have been additionally 4 crew members on board. All had been Mexican residents, in keeping with a press release from the Mexican authorities.
Along with these aboard the plane, at the least one particular person in a automobile died within the crash, and there have been at the least 19 different folks on the bottom — in parking heaps, in automobiles and close by properties — had been injured, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated in an earlier press briefing Saturday.
There was no indication of an issue radioed from the flight deck of the jet again to Air Site visitors Management earlier than the crash, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy advised reporters. “In reality, within the recording that we have now, there’s an try by air visitors controllers to get a response from the flight crew that they did not obtain,” she stated.
The NTSB has labeled the crash as an accident.
Investigators work the scene after a small airplane crashed in Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 2025.
Matt Rourke/AP
The “high-impact” crash left particles scattered throughout 4 to 5 metropolis blocks, Homendy stated. Investigators have but to recuperate the jet’s black field, which she stated might have been broken or destroyed.
“It could possibly be intact,” she stated. “However doubtless it’s broken. It might be fragmented.”
Philadelphia residents or enterprise house owners who discover particles ought to e mail the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov, Homendy stated.
Earlier, the mayor stated residents may additionally name 911 if they arrive throughout airplane particles.
Investigators will spend a number of days and, probably, weeks accumulating particles from the scene, the NTSB chair stated.
A minimum of 5 properties caught fireplace within the aftermath of the crash, Philadelphia officers stated.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
The crash of the medical jet got here simply two days after an Military Black Hawk helicopter collided with a regional American Airways jet close to Reagan Nationwide Airport simply outdoors Washington, D.C., killing 67 folks.
Investigators work the scene after a small airplane crashed in Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 2025.
Matt Rourke/AP
Homendy stated her company is ready to perform each investigations concurrently.
“We’re a extremely expert company,” she stated, including that it is common for the board to research two incidents.
In a message posted on social media platform X, U.S. Transportation Sean Duffy referred to as the back-to-back disasters a “heart-wrenching week.”
Investigators work the scene after a small airplane crashed in Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 2025.
Matt Rourke/AP
Relating to the Philadelphia crash, Duffy stated, “We’re not going to have solutions straight away. It is going to take time. However as I get these solutions, I will share it with all of you.”
