No one on board is likely to have survived the Friday crash, according to Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. According to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, 19 people were hurt on the ground.
The city of Philadelphia An air ambulance carrying six people crashed Friday night close to a mall in northeast Philadelphia, killing several people, including one person in a car.
Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, patient Valentina Guzman Murillo, and her mother, Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, were the six individuals on board.
No one on board is likely to have survived, according to Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. Not all of the victims’ details were made public right away.
Mayor Cherelle Parker stated during a news briefing on Sunday that there were now 22 injured people on the ground, where multiple “dwellings and vehicles” were affected.
Three of the 22 are in critical condition, and five are still in the hospital, according to Parker. No other details regarding the victims’ injuries were disclosed.
“We have not, out of respect for their families and their loved ones, shared the names of any of those who have been impacted,” Parker stated on Sunday.
Around 6:30 p.m., the air ambulance crashed close to the Roosevelt Mall while it was en route from Northeast Philadelphia Airport to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
The flight path of Learje
At a press conference on Saturday night, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, stated that the collision is being categorized as an accident.
The investigation’s lead investigator, Ralph Hicks, a senior air safety investigator with the NTSB, gave a description of the flight’s trajectory on Saturday night.
According to Hicks, the Learjet 55 arrived at Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 2:15 p.m. after leaving Florida at 12 p.m. According to him, it spent several hours waiting on the ground before taking off at roughly 6:06 p.m.
The jet rose to roughly 1,500 feet after takeoff, according to Hicks. It turned slightly to the right, then slightly to the left, and finally it made a “steep descent” to crash.
According to Homendy, the flight’s trajectory does not currently point to anything, and the NTSB will keep analyzing all of the information at its disposal.
She claimed that prior to the plane’s crash, there was no communication between the flight deck and the air traffic control tower.
The Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB are looking into the matter.
On X, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that every traveler was a citizen of Mexico. Officials have gotten in touch with the families of all six, according to the Mexican Consulate.
In a Facebook post that was translated, the consulate stated, “The required consular assistance is being provided and working with the authorities to clarify what has happened.”
According to an air ambulance company spokesperson who spoke to NBC Philadelphia, the patient was from Mexico, had traveled to the United States for “life-saving treatment,” and was on her way back home. According to the spokesperson, the child would be taken home by ground ambulance from Tijuana International Airport.
NTSB looking for black box and debris
According to officials, the impact site “is roughly four to six blocks” away, and debris was discovered in isolated locations. The cause of the collision is still being looked into.
According to Homendy, the NTSB is now concentrating on gathering perishable evidence, such as debris from the scene and any additional information they may require for their investigation.
A key component of the investigation is the agency’s ongoing search for the plane’s black box, or cockpit voice recorder.
According to Homendy, the NTSB is not currently aware of any debris or other falling objects from the aircraft prior to its downing. Witness videos are welcome at the agency, she said.
Odalis Acosta, 29, reported that “everything shook” while she was assisting a patron at Four Seasons Diner.
“The glass around them shattered, and people in the restaurant fell to the ground,” she said. A heavy piece of metal struck a customer in the head.
“You heard the explosion.” “I look to the side and I see the big ball of explosion through the window,” she said to NBC News.
After the crash, footage showed a lot of smoke and fire rising into the air.
The crash occurs just days after a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane collided in midair near Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.
