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A medical transport jet carrying six people, including a child patient, crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood on Friday evening, exploding into a massive fireball that engulfed multiple homes.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance confirmed the aircraft had a child patient, another passenger, and four crew members on board.
“We cannot confirm any survivors,” the company said in a statement. “Our immediate concern is for the patient’s family, our personnel, their families, and any other victims who may have been affected on the ground.”
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated in a Wednesday night news conference that details on casualties were not immediately available. However, she confirmed that several homes and vehicles had suffered significant damage.
“This remains an active scene under investigation,” Parker said.
The disaster occurred just two days after the deadliest U.S. air crash in decades, when an American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with a military helicopter in Washington, D.C., killing everyone on board.
A doorbell camera in Philadelphia captured the plane streaking through the sky before erupting into flames upon impact near a shopping mall and a busy roadway.
“All we heard was a loud roar, and when we turned around, we saw the big plume,” said Jim Quinn, the owner of the camera.
The crash site was less than three miles from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, a hub primarily for business jets and chartered flights.
The downed aircraft, a Learjet 55, took off from the airport at 6:06 p.m., reaching an altitude of 1,600 feet before vanishing from radar. It was en route to Springfield, Missouri, and registered to a company operating under Med Jets, according to flight tracking data from FlightAware.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro offered state resources to assist in the response efforts.
Emergency vehicles quickly flooded the scene, with police and firefighters establishing a perimeter spanning several blocks. Business parking lots were commandeered for rescue operations as authorities redirected bystanders away from the area. Within an hour, the blaring sirens and urgent commands gave way to eerie silence, with only the glow of emergency lights illuminating the devastation.
The crash occurred near Roosevelt Mall in the densely populated Rhawnhurst neighborhood.
One witness captured a chaotic scene moments after the explosion, showing debris scattered across a major intersection. An orange fireball raged just beyond the crash site as thick black smoke billowed into the night sky.
Michael Schiavone, 37, was at his home in the nearby Mayfair neighborhood when he heard an explosive noise that shook his house.
“It felt like a mini earthquake,” he said. “When I checked my security footage, it looked like a missile was coming down. For a moment, I thought we were under attack.”
The jet’s owner, Jet Rescue, specializes in global air ambulance services. The Mexico-based company previously transported baseball legend David Ortiz to Boston after he was shot in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and played a crucial role in evacuating critically ill COVID-19 patients during the pandemic.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would lead the investigation. The NTSB has begun gathering information to determine the cause of the crash.
