A person in a car was the seventh fatal victim of the crash of an air ambulance onto a busy Philadelphia street, authorities said on Saturday, as investigators sifted through burned cars, damaged homes and charred debris for clues to determine why the aircraft plummeted shortly after take-off.
Philadelphia’s mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed the casualties at a press conference on Saturday.
Earlier, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the six people on board the medical transport jet had all been killed.
The dead included a child who was receiving treatment at a Philadelphia hospital and her mother.
Carrying six people, including the child who spent months in treatment at a hospital, the small jet went down just after departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, creating what witnesses described as a massive fireball and leaving a chaotic street scene.
At least 19 people were injured, though most were released from hospitals.
Authorities could not yet say why the jet crashed, and Adam Thiel, the city’s managing director, said it could be days — or longer — until officials are able to fully count the number of dead and injured across a massive impact area in a densely populated residential area.
The crash scene was at least four to six blocks, and authorities were working to assess the damage, including going house to house to inspect the dwellings, Mr Thiel said.
“I mourn the passing of six Mexicans in the aviation accident in Philadelphia, United States. Consular authorities are in constant contact with the families; I’ve asked the Foreign Affairs Secretary to support whatever is needed. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends,” she said in a statement written in Spanish.
The medical transport jet was transporting the child who had just completed treatment for a life-threatening condition at Shriners Children’s Hospital.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance operated the Learjet 55. Everyone aboard the flight was from Mexico. The child was being transported home, according to Jet Rescue spokesperson Shai Gold.
The flight’s final destination was Tijuana after a stop in Missouri.
“When an incident like this happens, it’s shocking and surprising,” Mr Gold told The Associated Press. “All of the aircraft are maintained, not a penny is spared because we know our mission is so critical.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said at a news conference late on Friday that officials expected fatalities in the “awful aviation disaster”.
Earlier, a spokeswoman for Temple University Hospital-Jeanes, Jennifer Reardon, said they had treated six people with injuries from the crash. She was not able to provide information about their injuries or where the people were when they sustained them.
The plane was registered in Mexico. Jet Rescue is based in Mexico and has operations both there and in the US.
The crash came just two days after the deadliest US air disaster in a generation.
On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in midair in Washington, DC, with an Army helicopter carrying three soldiers. There were no survivors.
The Philadelphia crash was the second fatal incident in 15 months for Jet Rescue. In 2023 five crewmembers were killed when their plane overran a runway in the central Mexican state of Morelos and crashed into a hillside.
“All we heard was a loud roar and didn’t know where it was coming from. We just turned around and saw the big plume,” said Jim Quinn, the owner of the doorbell camera.
The crash happened less than three miles (five kilometres) from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, which primarily serves business jets and charter flights.
The Learjet 55 quickly disappeared from radar after taking off from the airport at 6.06pm and climbing to an altitude of 1,600 feet (487 metres). It was registered to a company operating as Med Jets, according to the flight tracking website Flight Aware.
Shortly after 6pm, audio recorded by LiveATC captured an air traffic controller telling “Medevac Medservice 056” to turn right when departing.
About 30 seconds later it repeats the request before asking, “You on frequency?” Minutes later, the controller says: “We have a lost aircraft. We’re not exactly sure what happened, so we’re trying to figure it out. For now the field is going to be closed.”
In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said: “So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia.”
“More innocent souls lost,” he added. “Our people are totally engaged.”
The plane crashed in a busy intersection near Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping centre in the densely populated neighbourhood of Rhawnhurst.
One mobile phone video taken by a witness moments after the crash showed a chaotic scene with debris scattered across the intersection. A wall of orange glowed just beyond as a plume of black smoke rose into the sky and sirens blared.
Michael Schiavone, 37, was sitting at his home in Mayfair, a nearby neighbourhood, when he heard a loud bang and his house shook. He said it felt like a mini earthquake and when he checked his home security camera, it looked like a missile came down.
“There was a large explosion, so I thought we were under attack for a second,” he said.
Jet Rescue, which provides global air ambulance services, flew baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz to Boston after he was shot in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and was involved in transporting patients critically ill with Covid-19.
The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. The NTSB said an investigator arrived on Friday and more officials would be there on Saturday.
