Carrying six people from Mexico, including a child who spent months in treatment at a hospital, the Learjet 55 went down just after departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, creating what witnesses described as a massive fireball, shaking houses and leaving a chaotic street scene.
As of Saturday morning, officials said, there were seven dead β six on the jet and the person in the car β and 19 injured. Most of the injured had been treated and released, hospitals said. The crash scene was at least four to six blocks, and authorities were working to assess the damage, including going house to house to inspect the dwellings, Thiel said.
The plane hit the ground just after 6 p. I thought it was a gas station that blew up. One diner patron was hit and injured by a small but heavy metal object that flew through the window, Koc said. A hospital spokesperson said the girl spent four months there receiving life-saving treatment for a condition not easily treated in Mexico. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said all six victims on the plane were from her country.
In a statement on the social media platform X, she mourned their deaths. Neither Philadelphia officials nor plane owner Jet Rescue Air Ambulance disclosed the identities of the dead. They were preparing to hold a family ceremony and staying away from TV and social media to avoid seeing images of the crash. The crash came just two days after the deadliest U. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in midair in Washington, D.
There were no survivors. Homendy said the NTSB is a highly skilled agency, and that it is not unusual for it to investigate two major accidents at the same time. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operated the Mexico-registered Learjet 55, is based in that country and has operations both there and in Miami. A company spokesperson said a seasoned crew operated the plane, and all flight crews undergo rigorous training.
