Kaya Wagner
Staff Writer
Friday evening, a Medevac jet crashed in a busy Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, killing at least seven and injuring nineteen others.
It has been confirmed by the Federal Aviation Commission that the plane, a forty-three-year-old Learjet 55, took off at 6:30 p.m. from Northeast Philadelphia airport en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, and crashed shortly after. The crash occurred on Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, near the Roosevelt Mall. It has also been confirmed that Philadelphia air traffic control tried to reach the doomed plane, but an operator responded to a question, “What’s going on down there?” by responding, “We have lost the aircraft. We’re not exactly sure what happened, so we’re trying to figure it out.”
At a press conference on Saturday morning, Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker confirmed that all six on the medical plane had not survived the crash. On the plane were a pediatric patient from Shriener’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, the patient’s mother, and a four-person flight crew. At least one other person was in a car that passed due to the accident.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also gave thanks to first responders. He said Saturday morning, “This is not just a group of emergency response professionals working together at the state, local and federal level, this is neighbors working together to look out for one another.”
President Donald Trump also responded to the crash on Friday night. In a post to social media app Truth Social the president wrote, “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.”
Little is known about what caused the crash, the total extent of injuries of those involved, and the damage to the area.