Philadelphia plane crash killed person in car at intersection

According to U.S. officials, a small plane crashed at an intersection in Philadelphia yesterday, killing at least seven people. All six people on board, including a child receiving treatment in Philadelphia, perished. They were all Mexican citizens. The crash site left a large impact crater in a densely populated area of the city.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated that one person in a car at the time also died in the crash, and at least 19 others were injured. The plane took off and reached an altitude of about 1,500 feet before rapidly descending, crashing less than a minute after takeoff. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy called it a "high-impact crash" and said the plane was "highly fragmented."

"The debris field is scattered over four to five blocks," Homendy said. "I want to emphasize that this is an active accident scene. The debris is scattered, it's very dangerous, so I encourage everyone to stay away from the scene." The accident occurred two days after a mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in Washington D.C., which killed 67 people.

Authorities searched through burned-out cars and charred debris on Saturday for clues to explain why the air ambulance exploded into a fireball and crashed to the ground shortly after taking off from a small airport in northeast Philadelphia. Philadelphia city managing director Adam Thiel said it could take days or longer to confirm the number of dead and injured. A hospital spokesperson treating the injured said most patients had been treated and discharged by midday Saturday, but at least three were admitted and remained hospitalized.

Mr. Thiel said the crash site was extensive and authorities were assessing the damage. Investigation teams were going door-to-door checking homes in the area. The plane crashed near the Roosevelt Mall in a densely populated area. Mr. Thiel said the number of casualties was “entirely possible” to change. Regarding where people were in the neighborhood when the plane crashed, “there are a lot of unknowns.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that all six people on the medical transport plane had died and that they were all from Mexico. Sheinbaum issued a statement on social media platform X on Saturday, confirming the news. "I am saddened by the loss of the six Mexicans who lost their lives in the air accident in Philadelphia, United States," she said in a statement translated from Spanish. "The consular area is in contact with the families; I have asked the Foreign Minister to support everything necessary. My condolences to their loved ones and friends."

The plane was transporting a child who had completed treatment at Shriners Children's Hospital, her mother, and four crew members. "The patient was in transit back to her home in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance following treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia when the crash occurred," Shriners spokesperson Mel Bower said in a statement. "Out of respect for patient privacy, we are unable to share additional information about the patient and her family at this time." The flight was ultimately destined for Tijuana after a stop in Missouri.

The aircraft was a Learjet 55 and was carrying a child patient, her mother and four other people when it crashed. Neither Philadelphia officials nor Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the plane’s owner, released the identities of the dead. But Mexican emergency service XE Médica Ambulancias confirmed that one of its doctors, Raúl Mesa, was among the victims. In a post on X, it said he was the head of the agency’s neonatology department. In the Gulf city of Veracruz, relatives of Josué Juárez said he was the plane’s co-pilot. They were preparing for a family ceremony and were staying away from television and social media to avoid seeing images of the crash.

Josué Juárez, 43, who lived in central Mexico, loved to salsa dance and play video games, had been a pilot for more than a decade, his brother Edgar said. He loved flying and had worked for the air ambulance service for more than a year, mostly flying from Mexico’s Caribbean coast to the U.S. "He always knew he had a risk, but the truth is, there are more accidents on the road," Edgar Juárez said. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which is based in Mexico, has operations in both Mexico and the United States. It operates the Learjet 55 that was registered in Mexico.

Jet Rescue spokesperson Shay Gold said the plane was operated by an experienced crew and that all flight crew members received rigorous training. The service was involved in transporting Dominican Republic baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz to Boston after he was shot in 2019, and in transporting critically ill COVID-19 patients. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. The NTSB said an investigator arrived on Friday and more officials would arrive on Saturday.