A small medical transport aircraft crashed into multiple buildings in north-east Philadelphia on Friday evening, igniting homes and vehicles and injuring individuals on the ground.
The aircraft had been on a medical transfer mission, carrying a child patient and her mother, along with four crew members.
“We know that there will be casualties,” Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro said during a press briefing at the crash site, calling it a “horrific aviation tragedy.”
Videos of the event circulating online show the aircraft descending rapidly and triggering a massive fireball.
All six individuals on board were Mexican, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on X. The aircraft was end route to Springfield, Missouri.
A representative for Temple University Hospital-Jeanes in Philadelphia reported that it had attended to six individuals injured on the ground during the crash.
Three were treated and discharged, while the status of the other three remains unknown.
The aircraft departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at approximately 18:07 local time and crashed less than four miles (6.4km) away minutes later, the BBC’s US affiliate CBS reported.
The initial emergency alerts were issued at around 18:12, it added.
Eyewitnesses described fragments from the crash damaging vehicles and scattering flaming wreckage into the streets. Photos of the aftermath depict blazing, wrecked cars.
The crash occurred just blocks from Roosevelt Mall, a three-story shopping complex in a densely populated area of Philadelphia, the fifth-largest city in the US.
The neighborhood consists of row houses and retail establishments.
Fire authorities reported that multiple residences caught fire in the vicinity of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, CBS stated.
One man who spoke with CBS mentioned he was driving nearby when he heard a whirring noise followed by a loud detonation.
“Everyone just started yelling,” he said.
Another witness informed local media that the explosion “illuminated the entire sky.”
“I just saw a plane essentially hit the structure and then explode. The sky lit up, and I pulled over—it was just really awful around here,” the witness told WPVI-TV, comparing the crash to an earthquake.
Ryan Tian, 23, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he was having dinner when he witnessed a “gigantic fireball” that turned the sky bright orange. “I thought we were under attack or something,” he said.
The girl on the plane, from Tijuana, Mexico, had been receiving care at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia, according to hospital spokesperson Mel Bower, CBS reported.
Mr. Bower stated her treatment had concluded, and she was on her way home after a “farewell celebration” at the hospital earlier on Friday.
He added that two physicians on the plane were from Jet Air Rescue Air Ambulance.
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The Mexican foreign ministry said personnel at the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia were in touch with relatives of those who were on the flight.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated that city officials do not yet know the exact number of fatalities but are “requesting prayers for anyone and everyone who may have been impacted.”
“If you see debris, call 911. Do not touch anything,” she advised city residents.
What do we know about the crash?
According to data on FlightAware, a flight monitoring website, the aircraft was operated by a company called Med Jets and had arrived in Philadelphia from Florida less than four hours earlier.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are conducting an investigation.
In a statement, President Donald Trump said his administration was “fully engaged.”
“So heartbreaking to witness the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent lives lost,” he remarked.
The plane crash occurs just two days after a significantly larger collision between a commercial airliner and a military helicopter in Washington, DC, where authorities believe all 67 passengers on both aircraft perished.
It was the deadliest aviation accident in the US in over two decades.
