Federal and local authorities are investigating the crash of a small plane near a shopping center in northeast Philadelphia on Friday night which killed all six people aboard the aircraft and one person on the ground.

A medical transport jet carrying a child patient, the child’s mother, two medical personnel and two pilots — all Mexican nationals — crashed around 6:30 p.m. EST, shortly after taking off from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The plane was en route to Missouri, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday.

At a press conference on Saturday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed that one person on the ground was killed in the crash. The person was inside a car at the time. Parker added that at least 19 people were injured, though she did not say how many were in critical condition.

But the number of victims in the crash may change in the coming days, according to the city’s managing director, Adam Thiel.

“This is still a very active and fluid situation,” Thiel said at the press conference. “It will likely be days or more until we are able to definitively answer the question about the number of folks who perished in this tragedy and the outcome for those who are injured.”

The crash took place near Roosevelt Mall, which is less than four miles from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport. City officials said the plane was in the air for only a minute before it plummeted to the ground.

Eyewitnesses described seeing an explosion in the shape of a mushroom cloud, member station WHYY reported. While videos and photos of the aftermath showed a long stretch of a Philadelphia neighborhood in flames and covered in debris. Five fires erupted following the crash and have since been extinguished, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson said Saturday.

Thiel said the area of impact was roughly four to six blocks, but debris was widespread and authorities are still assessing what areas were affected.

“It’s possible that if you are somewhere not even near here, somewhere between this location and Northeast Airport, you may go out and find something in your yard,” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be leading the investigation.

What we know about the victims on the aircraft

All six people aboard the plane were Mexican nationals, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, confirmed in a statement.

The child patient had finished treatment for an illness at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and was returning to her home country, according to the hospital.

The six people were flying in a Learjet 55, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which specializes in air ambulances across Mexico, Latin America and the U.S.

Shai Gold, the spokesperson for Jet Rescue, told NPR that the company was contracted by a third-party charitable organization to bring the child home to Tijuana, Mexico.

Among those on board were a pilot, copilot, doctor and paramedic, Gold added. No names will be released until all the families have been notified, the company said.

On Friday night, President Trump also expressed his condolences to the victims of the crash.

“So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job. More to follow. God Bless you all,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The crash came just two days after 67 people were killed in a midair collision between American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C. That crash is considered the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in over two decades.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/01/philadelphia-small-plane-crash-kills-6-people-aboard-and-1-person-in-a-car/