Philadelphia – TO medical transport plane Transporting a child who had just completed the treatment for a potentially deadly condition, his mother and four others crashed into a neighborhood of Philadelphia shortly after takeoff on Friday night, exploiting in a fireball that wrapped several houses.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, who operated the Learjet 55, said in a statement: “We cannot confirm any survivor.” There was no immediate word if someone on the ground was killed, but at least six people were treated for injuries in a hospital.
All aboard the flight were from Mexico. The child was being transported home, according to Jet Rescue Shai Gold spokesman. The final destination of the flight was Tijuana after a stop at Missouri.
The patient and her mother were on board with four crew members. Gold said that this was an experienced team and that all those involved in these flights go through rigorous training.
“When an incident like this occurs, it is shocking and surprising,” Gold told The Associated Press. “All airplanes are maintained, a penny is not saved because we know that our mission is very critical.”
The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, said at a press conference on Friday night that officials were waiting for deaths in the “horrible aviation disaster.”
“We know there will be loss,” he said.
A Temple University Hospital Jeans spokeswoman Jennifer Reardon said they had treated six people with accident injuries. Since then, three of those people had been released and the others were in fair conditions. He could not provide information about their injuries or where the people were when they suffered them.
The plane was registered in Mexico. Jet Rescue is based in Mexico and has operations both there and in the United States
The accident occurred only two days after MORE MORE MORE American Air Disaster In a generation. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane transports 60 passengers and four crew members It crashed in the air in Washington, DC, with an army helicopter with three soldiers. There were no survivors.
The Philadelphia accident was the second fatal incident in 15 months for Jet Rescue. In 2023, five crew members were killed when his plane invaded a track in the Mexican central state of Morelos and crashed into a hillside.
In Philadelphia, a bell camera captured a video of the plane that sank into a white streak and exploded when it reached the ground near a shopping center and a main road.
“Everything we heard was a strong roar and I didn’t know where it came from. We turned around and saw the big plume, ”said Jim Quinn, the owner of the House of Timbre.
The accident occurred less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the Northeast of Philadelphia airport, which mainly serves business aircraft and charter flights.
The Learjet 55 quickly disappeared from the radar after taking off from the airport at 6:06 pm and climbing at an altitude of 1,600 feet (487 meters). It was registered in a company that operates as Jets Med, according to the flight monitoring website, Veak Aking.
Shortly after 6 PM, the audio recorded by Liveatc captured an air traffic controller that told “Medevac Medservice 056” that turns right to leave. About 30 seconds later repeat the application before asking: “Is it frequently?” Minutes later, the controller says: “We have a lost plane. We are not exactly sure of what happened, so we are trying to solve it. For now the field is going to close. “
In a publication on the Truth Social Social Network Platform, President Donald Trump said: “Very sad to see the plane in Philadelphia.”
“The most innocent souls lost,” he added. “Our people are totally committed.”
A continuous flow of police vehicles and firefighters initially responded at the scene of the accident, assuming commercial parking lots. In approximately an hour, the cry of the mermaids and the orders shouted had vanished in relative silence at the edges of the closed area, and the darkness was installed when the drivers who passed looked at trying to see what was happening.
The plane crashed into a busy intersection near Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping center in the densely populated neighborhood of Rhawnhurst.
A video of a cell phone taken by a witness moments after the accident showed a chaotic scene with debris scattered by the intersection. An orange wall shone further when a black smoke pen rose to the sky and sounded the sirens.
Michael Schiavone, 37, was sitting at his house in Mayfair, a nearby neighborhood, when he heard a strong blow and his house shook. He said he felt like a mini earthquake and when he checked the security camera of his home, it seemed that a missile fell.
“There was a great explosion, so I thought we were attacked by a second,” he said.
Jet Rescue, which provides global air ambulance services, flew to the member of the Baseball Hall, David Ortiz, Boston after he was shot in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and participated in the transport of critical patients with COVID-19 .
FAA said the National Transportation Security Board will lead the investigation. The NTSB said that an investigator arrived and that more officials would be there on Saturday.
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Associated Press Rio Yamat writers Hallie Golden and Josh Cornfield contributed to this report.
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