Philadelphia — A medical transport jet carrying a child patient, her mother, and four others crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood shortly after takeoff Friday evening, causing a fireball that engulfed several homes.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which flew the Learjet 55, said in a statement, “We cannot confirm any survivors.” There was no immediate word on whether anyone on the ground had been killed.
All six passengers were from Mexico. According to Shai Gold, a spokesperson for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the child was treated in Philadelphia for a life-threatening condition and is now being transported back to Mexico. After a stop in Missouri, the flight arrived at its final destination of Tijuana.
The patient and her mother were on board, along with four crew members. Gold stated that this was a seasoned crew, and that everyone involved in these flights receives extensive training.
“When an incident like this happens, it’s shocking and surprising,” Gold told the Associated Press. “All of the aircraft are maintained, not a penny is spared because we know our mission is so critical.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told a news conference late Friday that officials expect fatalities in this “awful aviation disaster.”
“We know that there will be loss,” he informed me.
The plane is registered in Mexico. Jet Rescue is based in Mexico and operates both there and in the United States.
The crash occurred just two days after the United States’ deadliest air disaster in a generation. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter carrying three soldiers in midair over Washington, D.C. There were no survivors in the crash.
The Philadelphia crash marked Jet Rescue’s second fatal incident in 15 months. In 2023, five crew members were killed when their plane overran a runway in Morelos, central Mexico, and crashed into a hillside.
In Philadelphia, a doorbell camera captured footage of the plane plunging in a white streak and exploding as it collided with the ground near a shopping mall and major highway.
“We only heard a loud roar and had no idea where it came from. Jim Quinn, the owner of the doorbell camera, stated, “We just turned around and saw the big plume.”
The crash occurred less than three miles from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, which serves mostly business jets and charter flights.
The Learjet 55 quickly vanished from radar after taking off from the airport at 6:06 p.m. and climbing to an altitude of 1,600 feet (487 meters). It was registered to Med Jets, according to the flight tracking website Flight Aware.
President Donald Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social, “So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia.”
“More innocent souls lost,” he concluded. “Our people are totally engaged.”
Initially, a steady stream of police and fire trucks responded to the crash site, taking over business parking lots. Within an hour, the sound of sirens and shouted orders had faded into relative silence at the edges of the closed-off area, and darkness fell as drivers passing by peered out to see what was going on.
The plane crashed in a busy intersection near Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping center in the densely populated Rhawnhurst neighborhood.
A witness captured a cellphone video moments after the crash, showing a chaotic scene with debris scattered across the intersection. A wall of orange glowed just beyond, while a plume of black smoke rose into the sky and sirens sounded.
Michael Schiavone, 37, was sitting at home in Mayfair, a nearby neighborhood, when he heard a loud bang and felt the house shake. He described it as a mini earthquake, and when he looked at his home security camera, it appeared that a missile had fallen.
“There was a large explosion, so I thought we were under attack for a second,” he explained.
Jet Rescue, which provides global air ambulance services, flew baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz to Boston after being shot in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and assisted in transporting critically ill COVID-19 patients.
According to the FAA, the investigation will be led by the National Transportation Safety Board. According to the NTSB, an investigator has arrived and more officials will be present on Saturday.
