UPDATED: Philadelphia Deals With Aftermath of Medical Jet Crash
According to updates provided by the City of Philadelphia, the medical transport jet that crashed around 6:10 p.m. Friday at Cottman and Bustleton Avenues in northeast Philadelphia took seven lives: six onboard and one person who was in a car on the ground.
Twenty-two other victims were taken to area hospitals. Five remained hospitalized as of Sunday. Three of those people were in critical condition.
At a Saturday morning press conference, Mayor Cherelle Parker urged people to call police if any of their family members in that area are missing.
Five houses and numerous cars were set ablaze.
Both Parker and Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was with her, asked people to pray for those affected.
“I happen to be a praying mayor, and I know that prayer works,” said Parker. “Offer a prayer for our city. Now is the time we need it.”
An oxygen canister from the doomed airplane at the curb on Cottman Avenue
The people on the plane were Mexican nationals, a pediatric patient, the patient’s mother, and a four-person flight crew, said Parker. The plane took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
“It was only aloft for a very short period of time before something went terribly wrong and it crashed,” said Parker. “The aircraft, a Learjet 55, was en route to Missouri, according to our Federal Aviation Administration.”
“Investigators are pouring over the crash site right now,” said Parker. “We will find a cause for this tragedy.” Workers were restoring gas and electric service. SEPTA is detouring buses around the Cottman and Roosevelt Boulevard area.
The Red Cross is helping people who are displaced by the crash. The school district said there are no school closures.
“What you witnessed today is everyone standing up together,” said Parker, naming all the city, state, and federal agencies involved, as well as public officials.
She asked people not to come to the site since it remains “an active scene.”
Shapiro said, “The city is working around the clock to keep people safe, to understand what happened and to be there for those who are impacted.”
He thanked “everyone who is joining forces together,” including 50 state police troopers and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. He said he spoke to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who offered federal resources. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have dispatched investigators.
The NTSBB also had a press conference Saturday. Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said a team of 17 people was deployed and an investigation is underway.
Ralph Hicks, with NTSB, said the doomed airplane climbed to 1,500 feet before it fell to the ground.
“The entire fight lasted less than a minute,” he said.
Homendy said, “This was a high-impact crash and the plane is highly fragmented…The debris field extends four or five blocks.” On Sunday evening, workers found the cockpit voice recorder.
Anyone who fiends a piece of debris should email: [email protected], she said.
The NTSB is classifying the crash as an accident, she said.
“I know the good people of northeast Philadelphia, as daybreak came, walked out of their houses and down from their stoops and saw carnage in their communities, saw a fuselage, saw destruction, and saw things no one should ever have to experience in their neighborhoods,” said Shapiro. “We also saw the best of northeast Philly: neighbor helping neighbor. Folks looking out for one another. That’s the Philly way. That’s the Philly spirit.”
The pediatric patient on the plane had been treated at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and was returning to Mexico by way of Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
Flames from jet crash (via X)
City Manager Director Adam Thiel said the accident scene is a “very large area.”
“We’re doing a grid search of this entire four to six block area,” said Thiel. “A very dense area to ensure we’ve found everything we need to find, that we have checked in with all of the residents. And we will continue to do that.”
“We have teams that are going literally house to house, door to door,” he said. “Also, license and inspection personnel are inspecting all the dwellings in the area so we can be sure we don’t have additional structural damage, and it is possible we will still find that.”
“It is still a very active and fluid situation,” said Thiel. “It is entirely possible there will be changes to those casualty figures that you heard…We have a lot of unknowns as to who was where on the streets of this neighborhood last night at the time of impact. It will likely be days or more until we are able to definitely answer the question about the number of folks who perished in this tragedy and the outcome for those who were injured.”
Anthony Romi lives on the east side of Roosevelt Boulevard and was home when the crash occurred.
“It sounded like a missile,” Romi told DVJournal. “That’s how loud it was. It shook the whole neighborhood. The whole neighborhood lit up. I knew it was some sort of an explosion.”
His first thought was the gas station on the corner had exploded.
“It was such a shock. I feel sad for the people that lost their lives,” said Romi.
State Sen. Joe Picozzi (Philadelphia) was on hand for the press conference.
Afterward, he told DVJournal, “I’ve had a lot of people reach out, ‘How can I help? What can I do?’– community leaders, civic leaders.
“We’ll be working together to help everybody,” Picozzi said.
Philadelphia will offer support to affected businesses. Businesses with property damage or operational issues because of local road closures can contact the Department of Commerce’s Mayor’s Business Action team or call (215) 683-2100, or email [email protected].
The city is also offering mental health services for those affected by the crash or (215) 685-6440. And residents affected by the aircraft incident can text RECOVERPHL to 888-777 to get the latest updates and information sent straight to their phones.
