A small jet crashed Friday evening after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and seven people have died, city officials said Saturday.
The plane crash followed the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in more than 20 years, when an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers on Wednesday night outside of D.C.
In the Philadelphia collision, a Learjet 55 crashed around 6:10pm, the city said.
The medical jet, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and was bound for the Springfield-Branson airport in Missouri, and then Mexico.
The jet was carrying a pediatric patient who had been treated at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philly, and who was returning home to Mexico with her mother, escorted by four crew members.
“I know that the team there [at Shriners] in Philadelphia [Friday] had a sendoff for her,” Mel Bower, a spokesperson for the hospital, told NBC10. “It’s always a meaningful but yet emotional time for us. It’s really just been compounded by the tragic ending.”
According to the city’s statement, “Flight logs show the plane was in the air for only a minute before it crashed.”
A post on X from Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the six people on the flight were Mexican nationals.
A motorist on the ground was killed and at least 19 others were injured, Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a press briefing Saturday.
A spokesperson for Temple University Hospital told the Philadelphia Inquirer that it had treated and released three people, and three others were still hospitalized in fair condition.
All fires caused by the crash were extinguished, and the fire marshal was investigating those blazes, the city’s Managing Director Adam Thiel said Saturday.
Fire officials are going “door to door” canvassing homes over a four- to six-block radius for damage. The debris field could span several miles, officials said.
Gas and electric officials are working to restore power to homes impacted by the crash. Parker encouraged residents to avoid the area, stay home and report debris to officials.
Cottman Avenue between Roosevelt Boulevard and Busleton Avenue will be closed for an extended period of time, according to Philly’s Office of Emergency Management. Drivers should avoid the area.
The city has opened a shelter at Samuel Fels High School (5500 Langdon Street) in partnership with the Red Cross for anyone impacted by the crash.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a press briefing Friday night that the tragedy drew out “the best of Philly.”
“We saw neighbor helping neighbor.”
“We heard an explosion and then saw the aftermath of flames and smoke,” one eyewitness told 6ABC. “Common sense told me that I not get close to it and very quickly, just a cavalry of police and first responders. God bless them for going into harm’s way.”
Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport are both open, according to a spokesperson for the airports.
The FAA and NTSB will investigate the medical jet crash, officials said.
