Updated February 02, 2025 at 14:48 PM ET
Investigators are still probing what caused a medical transport jet — carrying a child patient, the patient's mother, two medical personnel and two pilots — to crash shortly after takeoff in northeast Philadelphia on Friday night, killing all those on board and one person who was inside a car. At least 19 people on the ground were injured.
On Saturday night, the plane's operator, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, identified those on board as Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales; co-pilot Josue De Jesus Juarez Juarez; pediatrician Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo; paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla; the child patient Valentina Guzman Murillo; and Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, the child's mother — all of whom were Mexican nationals.
Investigators are still in search of remaining aircraft pieces that could help determine the cause behind the crash. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said authorities have so far recovered the plane's two engines, but the voice recorder from the cockpit, commonly called a black box, remains missing.
"We are still looking for it. It could be intact but likely it is very — it is damaged. It may be fragmented," she said at a press conference on Saturday night.
Homendy added that authorities can still complete their investigation without the recording device, but it is a critical piece and its location remains "the biggest question right now." She also said the aircraft's black box was the color orange.
The medical jet was heading to Missouri from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport when it crashed near Roosevelt Mall around 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday. 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.
City officials did not say how many of those injured were in critical condition. 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 on Saturday. "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."
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
The child patient had finished treatment for an illness at Shriners Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and was returning to Mexico, 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.
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.
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