Medical Jet Crashes in Philadelphia Neighborhood, Setting Buildings Ablaze

By Staff, Agencies

A small medical transport jet crashed into several buildings in northeast Philadelphia on Friday evening, igniting fires in homes and vehicles and injuring people on the ground.

The aircraft, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, was on a medical transport mission carrying four crew members, a child patient, and the child's escort. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro described the incident as an “awful aviation disaster” and confirmed that loss of life was expected.

Emergency crews rushed to the crash site, where debris and fiery wreckage littered the streets. Witnesses recounted scenes of chaos, with burning cars and homes, as well as people injured in the explosion.

The child on board, who was receiving treatment for a life-threatening condition in the US, was being transported back to Tijuana, Mexico, with the support of a charity. The passengers included the child's mother, a doctor, a paramedic and the flight crew.

Videos of the incident show the jet descending rapidly before erupting into a massive fireball upon impact. Residents in the area, which is densely populated with terraced houses and shops, reported feeling a tremor and hearing an intense explosion that "lit up the whole sky."

The Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] confirmed that the Learjet 55 took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6:30 PM local time, crashing just four miles [6.4 km] from its departure point. The aircraft was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

In a statement, former US President Donald Trump expressed condolences, calling the event a tragic loss of innocent lives.

This incident comes just two days after a fatal collision in Washington, D.C., between a commercial jet and a military helicopter, marking one of the deadliest aviation disasters in the US in over two decades.