NTSB: “high impact crash” not being treated as terrorism

February 1, 2025

The National Transportation Safety Board is beginning to piece together the final moments of yesterday’s fatal crash of a private jet– the country’s second deadly disaster in the last days – as it arrives at the accident site for its first full day of collecting and analysing the debris.
Having made its previous journey from Miami’s Opa Locka International Airport earlier yesterday afternoon, the medevac-configured Learjet 55 arrived at Northeast Philadelphia airport around 14:15. Nearly four hours later, it departed runway 24 just after 18:00, flying in IMC. After climbing to about 1,500ft AGL, the jet made a slight left and right turn – something senior NTSB investigator Ralph Hicks intimated “doesn’t really suggest anything right now” – before, after less than a minute in the air, made a sharp descent towards the ground.
With the aircraft “highly fragmented” after the “high impact crash,” there is “substantial impact on the entire community,” stated NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy, who urged local people to stay away from the potentially dangerous debris (which is currently scattered across four or five city blocks). Over the next days – “possibly extending into weeks” – the NTSB will be collecting the debris to transport to a safe location for further evaluation.
Although the two engines have been located, the cockpit voice recorder has still not been recovered, with Homendy stressing that although “it could be intact, likely it is very damaged or fragmented. However, “hopefully when we find it – and that’s the biggest question right now – we can take that back to our lab and investigate it,” she continued.
“I’m sure I will get questions about having two major accident investigations at one time,” Homendy added, referencing the midair collision occurring just days prior. However, she clarified that it is “not unusual for the NTSB to be investigating two major accidents. We have tremendous resources at both, and we will get to our findings, our probable cause and our recommendations, and to a final investigative report”.
“We are a very small federal agency,” highlighted Homendy. “Most people aren’t aware that we only have 436 employees at the NTSB, and that spans all modes of transportation”. However, with the aviation element mandated to “do quite more than the other modes of transportation”, investigators not part of the “highly skilled team” at Washington DC will also be called upon to form part of this investigation.
Thanking elevated funding from congress that has “increased pretty significantly” in the past couple of years, alongside President Donald Trump for indicating his “strong support” during a briefing earlier this week, Homendy concluded that although the agency is currently well-resourced – “we will always hope for more. We’ll see what comes”.