Medical transport aircraft crashes into Philadelphia

No survivors confirmed as medevac Learjet 55 carrying six people crashes into a residential area shortly after takeoff

BREAKING

A medical transport aircraft carrying six people has crashed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the FAA has confirmed. The Mexican-registered Learjet 55 (registration XA-UCI) was en-route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it crashed shortly after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

Shortly after the flight departed at 23:06 UTC, footage shows the jet plunging into a residential area before a fireball is seen erupting. According to local media, the impact occurred In a intersection of road near Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping centre. Granular ADS-B data sourced by aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 indicates the flight reached a maximum altitude of 1,650ft less than a minute into the journey, with a subsequent vertical descent rate of -11,008fpm.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, operators of the Learjet, said that they “cannot confirm any survivors;” adding that “our immediate concern is for the patient’s family, our personnel, their families and other victims that may have been hurt on the ground”.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance spokesperson Shai Gold also told NBC News that the aircraft was transporting a young patient, who had been receiving treatment in the US, and her mother back to Tijuana, Mexico. Also on board were two pilots, a doctor and a paramedic. A spokesperson for Shriner’s Children’s Hospital confirmed: “The patient had received care from Shriner’s Childrens’s Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico when the crash happened”.

The City of Philadephia Mayor Cherelle Parker described the accident as “a tragedy in our city,” thanking the rapid response of the Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments, the office of emergency management and Philadelphia gas works, and other federal, state, and local first responders who “swarmed the scene”. A spokesperson for the Mayor’s office added that “many people on the ground – in parking lots, on streets, in cars and homes in the area – were injured”. A number of these were transported to hospital, although further information is yet to be released.

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator arrived on the scene last night, with additional team members to arrive today. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has also visited the site in person, confirmed the Mayor’s office.

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