7 dead, including 1 on ground, after a medevac jet with a child patient and her mother crashes in Philadelphia, mayor says
By Dalia Faheid, Pete Muntean, Mark Morales, Danny Freeman, Taylor Romine and Aaron Cooper, CNN
(CNN) — Seven people are dead, including one in a car on the ground, after a twin-engine medevac jet carrying a child patient and her mother crashed in a neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia Friday night, the mayor said Saturday morning. At least 19 were injured on the ground.
The six people on the plane were Mexican nationals, Mexico’s president said Saturday morning.
“I mourn the death of six Mexicans in the plane crash in Philadelphia, United States,” Claudia Sheinbaum said. “The consular authorities are in permanent contact with the families; I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support them in whatever way is required. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends.”
The plane crash, about 150 miles to the northeast of the Washington, DC, area, came as authorities continue their probe into Wednesday’s deadly collision there. An American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers onboard collided over the Potomac River. All are presumed dead.
The Learjet 55 crashed after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN.
On board were a pediatric patient and her mother returning home to Mexico after the child had been treated in Philadelphia, said Shai Gold, spokesperson for flight operator Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. The girl was being treated for an illness at Shriners Children’s Hospital in northeast Philadelphia, city officials said Saturday.
Four crew members – a pilot, co-pilot, paramedic and doctor – were also on board the flight, which was scheduled to stop for refueling at the Springfield airport before continuing to its final destination of Tijuana, Mexico, Gold told CNN.
“With air travel we know that you have a risk to the folks in the airplane, but as we saw in Philadelphia, what happens on the ground can be catastrophic,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told CNN Sunday.
Officials won’t know much about what went wrong until investigators recover the plane’s black box, Duffy said.
Investigators were still searching Saturday for the jet’s cockpit voice recorder as they worked to collect evidence and piece together what may have led to the crash, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.
“It could be intact, but likely…it is damaged, it may be fragmented,” Homendy said at a Saturday news conference.
“We have an incredible team at our headquarters, our Office of Research and Engineering, who have significant expertise on repairing damaged cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders,” Homendy said.
As part of the evidence gathering process, the board is also collecting debris from the site of the crash and have located the aircraft’s two engines. Homendy asked community members who find debris to reach out to the NTSB.
The area of impact from the crash is roughly four to six blocks, and officials have discovered debris around the city, Philadelphia’s managing director Adam Thiel said at a news conference earlier Saturday. “It’s a very widespread area and we’re still trying to determine the entire scope.”
“It is entirely possible there will be changes to those casualty figures,” Thiel said. “It will likely be days or more until we are able to definitively answer the question about the number of folks who perished in this tragedy.”
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker urged residents who may have been in the area during the explosion to check their vehicles and property for potential evidence.
“Don’t touch it, just call 911,” she said.
The plane took off just after 6 p.m. ET and reached 1,650 feet before plunging, according to data from ADS-B Exchange. The data shows the final speed of descent was 11,000 feet per minute.
“The entire flight lasted less than a minute,” Ralph Hicks, a senior NTSB investigator, said Saturday.
‘We have a lost aircraft’
As an air traffic controller tried to contact the plane, there was a callout heard on LiveATC.net: “Medevac med service, northeast tower. Medevac med service, northeast tower. Are you on frequency?”
A little over a minute later, the controller is heard saying: “We have a lost aircraft.”
The medical transport plane crashed in a residential neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia, engulfing five homes and multiple vehicles in flames and covering the area with debris, city officials said.
More than 150 firefighters rushed to the scene after three alarms quickly went off. Video from CNN affiliate WPVI showed flames and a large cloud of smoke in the neighborhood as several fire trucks responded to the crash.
Jefferson Health received 15 victims after the crash, a spokesperson said. Twelve have since been discharged, two have been admitted for further care and one patient was transferred to another hospital.
Six patients were sent to Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus and all have since been released as of Saturday afternoon, a spokesperson from the hospital confirmed to CNN.
St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia received one pediatric patient from Friday’s crash, a spokesperson told CNN.
Nearby, the Northeast Philadelphia Airport was temporarily closed following the crash, but is now reopened, the airport told CNN.
Across the street from the crash, Roosevelt Mall was evacuated, mall spokesperson Kristen Moore told CNN. There were no injuries or damage at the mall, she said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he is offering all Commonwealth resources as the emergency response unfolds. Sen. John Fetterman also wrote on social media that he was in touch with the Philadelphia mayor and awaiting further information.
Sen. Dave McCormick said he is “closely monitoring the tragic situation,” adding that he has reached out to the mayor and local law enforcement to lend “full support.”
Members of the state’s emergency management agency and transportation department are on the ground, along with 45 state troopers, Shapiro told reporters Friday night. The state’s environmental protection department is also making sure that hazardous materials “are addressed,” Shapiro said.
“The impact was so devastating, I think they’re going to have their hands full,” Peter Goelz, former managing director of the NTSB, told CNN Saturday.
While there’s some video available of the incident, none of it so far is particularly clear, Goelz said.
“The only tip-off might be if something came off the plane earlier and is a little further down the flight track,” Goelz said. “That might help indicate what happened, because the first piece off is the most important.”
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the crash, Duffy said in a post on X.
“So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job.”
‘Big ball of flames in the sky’
One witness who saw the crash was at work when he noticed “this big ball of flames in the sky,” he told CNN affiliate WPVI.
“I was right here at the job and all I could see is this big ball of flames in the sky. Literally, we heard a loud, loud bang. It shook the entire building, the whole building shook,” Mikey Littlejohn told WPVI.
Another witness, Vadim Osipov, said: “I was in shock. I’m still in shock. Like, this is insane.”
Osipov said the incident reminded him of the war in Ukraine, where he is from. “There’s always rockets coming in and stuff like that, then I see things flying.”
Philadelphia City Commissioner Lisa Deeley said there were “no words” to describe the troubling videos and images coming out of her neighborhood.
“A tragic plane crash occurred half a mile from the home where I grew up, lived in for over 50 years, and where I am still an active member of the community,” Deeley said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “An office building where I worked for 10 years appears to have been damaged. I saw debris in the parking lot of the mall where I hung out as a teenager. I can say that you see these things on TV, but it is totally different when it is in your own backyard.”
Gov. Shapiro said that while Friday’s incident was “an awful aviation disaster,” it shows the unified response of local, state and federal officials.
“We saw neighbor helping neighbor,” he said. “We know that there will be loss in this region and we want to offer our thoughts and our serious prayers for those who are grieving.”
Red Cross Philadelphia said a team of disaster workers is on the scene to assist those who have been displaced. Mayor Parker said shelter is available for residents who have been affected.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Brian Rokus, Emma Tucker, Ross Levitt, Jessie Yeung, Karol Suarez, Max Rego, Nicki Brown, Alexandra Skores and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
