PHILADELPHIA: At least seven people died when a medevac plane crashed in Philadelphia on Friday, including six Mexicans aboard the plane and one person who was on the ground, Mexico’s president and Philadelphia’s mayor said on Saturday.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker told a press conference that the person who died on the ground had been in a car at the site of the crash. Video footage appeared to show the twin-engine plane descending at a sharp angle towards a residential area, sparking a huge fireball upon impact and showering wreckage over homes and vehicles.

The Federal Aviation Administ­ration (FAA) said the aircraft was a Learjet 55 — an American-French business jet — that had taken off shortly before from Northeast Philadelphia Airport bound for Branson, Missouri. The crash happened just after 6pm.

A young girl who had been in the United States for medical care, her mother, and members of the flight and medical crews accompanying her onboard were killed in the crash, the children’s hospital that treated her said. “The patient had received care from Shriners Children’s Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened,” said Mel Bower, a spokesman for Shriners Children’s.

All six of those onboard were Mexican citizens, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “The airline company... confirmed to the consulate that six people of Mexican nationality were travelling on the aircraft,” the ministry wrote on X.

The operator, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, confirmed in a statement to US media that there were two passengers and four crew, adding, “At this time, we cannot confirm any survivors.” Dozens of emergency workers were on the scene outside Roosevelt Mall, a strip mall in Northeast Philadelphia with retailers and food outlets.

US President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he was “sad” to see “more souls lost” in the Philadelphia tragedy. He praised first responders, adding: “God Bless you all.” Witnesses told local TV crews that they saw body parts in or near the wreckage. “It doesn’t look good. And it’s a sad situation here,” he told CNN. The FAA said it was launching an investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Washington tragedy

Both agencies are already probing the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century, after a passenger jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday.

The airliner with 64 people onboard was landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington — just miles from the White House — when it collided with the US Army helicopter on a training mission.

Divers were scouring on Friday for the remaining bodies in the frigid Potomac River, after having pulled at least 41 from the water.

Investigators on Friday found the helicopter’s black box after having already retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorder from the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary.

Officials are confident data can be fully extracted from the recorders, said NTSB member Todd Inman, adding an investigation was still being carried out.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2025