Philadelphia plane crash: What we know so far as Learjet air ambulance comes down in huge explosion near mall
An medical jet carrying a young girl, her mother and four crew members crashed into a busy residential area of northeast Philadelphia Friday, erupting in a fireball.
The aircraft came down just after 6pm local time near the Roosevelt Mall, damaging half a dozen homes and a number of vehicles. Shocking footage showed a large mushroom-shaped fireball shooting into the sky upon the plane’s impact.
There are no survivors, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L Parker told reporters during a news conference on Saturday. One person who was in a nearby car also perished in the accident. Nineteen people were transported to area hospitals.
City law enforcement quickly declared the crash a “major incident” and urged residents to stay away from the area.
It happened just two days after a deadly mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane above Washington D.C. killed 67 people. There were no survivors.
Here’s what we know:
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6.06pm local time, en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
The plane, a Learjet 55, quickly disappeared from radar after taking off and climbing to an altitude of 1,600 feet. It was reportedly airborne for only about 40 seconds and fell from the sky at around 11,000 feet per minute.
No one on board the aircraft survived the incident. One person on the ground was killed and nineteen people were transported to area hospitals.
All six of those on board the flight were Mexican nationals, that country’s government confirmed.
The child, a girl who was being treated at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia, was being transported back to Mexico where she is from. The flight’s final destination was to be Tijuana after a stop in Missouri. Philadelphia officials confirmed the plane was only in the air for minutes before it crashed.
Audio from air traffic control, obtained by CNN, reported a “lost aircraft” shortly after takeoff.
The two-engine jet came down in a “high traffic” residential neighborhood in the northeast section of the city, with the explosion captured from multiple angles by cellphones, ring doorbells and dash-cams.
Eyewitnesses said the sky was “lit up” by the explosion.
