A U.S. air ambulance plane carrying six people, including a young girl, crashed in a Philadelphia residential area, creating chaos on the ground.
The Learjet 55, which took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport on Friday evening, was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it lost control shortly after departure.
The medical transport plane was carrying a child patient, her mother, and four others when it crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood, erupting into a fireball that consumed multiple homes.
The company operating the jet, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, stated: “We cannot confirm any survivors.” There was no immediate information on whether anyone on the ground was killed.
All six people on board were Mexican nationals. The child had received treatment for a life-threatening condition in Philadelphia and was being flown back to Mexico, with a planned stop in Missouri, according to Jet Rescue’s spokesperson, Shai Gold.
Along with the patient and her mother, four crew members were also on board. Gold emphasized that the crew was experienced and had undergone rigorous training for such flights.
“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 Governor Josh Shapiro called the crash an “awful aviation disaster”, stating officials expected fatalities. “We know that there will be loss,” he said.
The plane was registered in Mexico, and Jet Rescue, headquartered there, operates in both Mexico and the U.S.
The crash happened just two days after the deadliest U.S. air disaster in decades. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew collided midair with an Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., killing everyone aboard.
This is Jet Rescue’s second fatal crash in 15 months. In 2023, five crew members died when another of its planes overran a runway in Morelos, Mexico, and crashed into a hillside.
A doorbell camera captured footage of the Philadelphia crash, showing the jet plummeting before erupting into flames near a shopping mall and major roadway.
Eyewitness Jim Quinn, who owns the camera, recalled hearing “a loud roar” before spotting a plume of smoke.
Nearby resident Michael Schiavone, 37, said the impact shook his house like an earthquake. Checking his security camera, he thought “it looked like a missile” and briefly feared they were “under attack.”
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