A Medevac plane that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia killed one person on the ground and left 19 others hospitalized, in addition to killing all six people on board the aircraft, the city’s mayor said on Saturday.
“This is a tragedy in our City. People lost their lives and many injured in this horrific crash and the damage is significant,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker posted Saturday on X. “We can officially disclose 6 perished in the plane. At least one more person perished in the incident,” she said.
The Learjet 55 plane crashed shortly after takeoff from a Philadelphia airport, and carried two passengers: A child patient and the youth’s mother, as well as four crew members, according to Shai Gold, an official with operator Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, in a post on LinkedIn. All were Mexican citizens, Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry said in a post on X.
“The patient had received care from Shriners Children’s Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened,” the hospital said in a statement.
The crash occurred around 6:30 p.m. local time on Friday, the US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The plane went down in a residential and shopping area of Northeast Philadelphia near the Roosevelt Mall.
The jet was headed to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri to refuel before heading to Tijuana in Mexico.
The FAA and the US National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident. The Mexico-registered jet, which is 43 years old, is owned by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, according to Flightradar24.
Numerous videos posted on social media of the crash showed the plane explode, likely a result of the large amount of jet fuel it would have been carrying upon take-off.
The twin-engined Learjet is a type of small business jet, with more than 3,000 produced in its lifetime. Canadian planemaker Bombardier stopped manufacturing the plane in 2021.
The accident occurred less than 48 hours after a midair collision involving an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet and a US Army helicopter in Washington, D.C. There were no survivors in Wednesday’s crash, which took 67 lives, and was the worst fatal air accident in the US in decades.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that investigators were already at the accident site. He said he had briefed President Donald Trump and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and his department was offering full support to local officials.
I’ve spoken with @PhillyMayor and my team is in communication with @PhillyPD @PhilaOEM, and @PhillyFireDept. We are offering all Commonwealth resources as they respond to the small private plane crash in Northeast Philly.
We’ll continue to provide updates as more information is…
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) February 1, 2025
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