A small medical transport plane crashed into several buildings in northeast Philadelphia, igniting fires and injuring multiple people. The plane, on a medical transport mission, was carrying four crew members, a child patient, and the patient’s escort when it went down on Friday evening, according to a statement from Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the medical aircraft company overseeing the flight.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro described the incident as an “awful aviation disaster” during a news conference at the crash site, acknowledging the likelihood of significant loss.
Emergency responders quickly arrived at the scene as local residents crowded the streets, which were strewn with fiery debris and fragments of the wreckage. Witnesses recounted scenes of chaos as they saw injured individuals and burning structures.
The child aboard the plane had been receiving treatment in the United States for a life-threatening condition and was being returned to Tijuana, Mexico. The child’s mother, a pilot, a copilot, a doctor, and a paramedic were also on board, said Shai Gold, a spokesman for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, in a statement to local NBC news.
Gold further explained that the child’s treatment had been sponsored by a third-party charity, adding that “she fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately, this tragedy occurred on her way home.”
The Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia issued a notice on X, urging Mexican nationals affected by the crash to contact a designated helpline.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed that city officials have not yet determined the number of fatalities, but expressed hope and concern for all those impacted by the disaster. “We are asking for prayers for anyone and everyone that may have been affected,” Parker stated. She also advised residents to contact 911 if they encounter any debris, cautioning against touching it.
The crash occurred just blocks away from the Roosevelt Mall, a three-story shopping center in a densely populated area of Philadelphia, the fifth-largest city in the United States. The surrounding neighborhood is primarily residential, with terraced housing and small businesses.
Online footage of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly, followed by a massive fireball. Witnesses described the destruction, with shrapnel from the wreckage damaging nearby vehicles and sending burning debris into the streets. Images from the scene depict mangled, burning cars.
One man interviewed by CBS, the BBC’s U.S. partner, recounted hearing a whirring sound followed by a loud explosion while driving through the area. “Everyone just started screaming,” he said. Another witness described the explosion as lighting up the entire sky. “I just saw a plane basically hit the building and explode. The sky lit up, and I pulled over… it was just real bad around here,” the witness told WPVI-TV, comparing the crash’s impact to that of an earthquake.
Ryan Tian, 23, who was having dinner at the time, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he saw a “massive fireball” that turned the sky orange. “I thought we were getting attacked by something,” he said, adding that he decided to flee when he saw others running.
What do we know about the crash?
The crash involved a Learjet 55, which took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at approximately 6:30 PM local time. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane crashed less than four miles (6.4 km) from the airport. The FAA initially reported that two people were on board, but later updated the information to indicate that six individuals were aboard the plane.
The flight was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. According to flight tracking data from FlightAware, the plane had been operated by Med Jets, a medical transport company. The Learjet had arrived in Philadelphia from Florida less than four hours prior to the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are actively investigating the crash. President Donald Trump expressed his administration’s full engagement in addressing the incident, stating, “So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost.”
This crash follows another devastating incident just two days earlier, where a commercial jet collided with a military helicopter in Washington D.C. Officials believe that all 67 individuals aboard both aircraft were killed, making it the deadliest plane crash in the United States in over two decades.
