Fires and plumes of smoke are seen in northeast Philadelphia after a small aircraft crashed on Friday night near a shopping mall. (Photo: AFP)
PHILADELPHIA – A small medical plane carrying six people crashed near a shopping centre in northeast Philadelphia on Friday night, apparently leaving no survivors and sending a large fireball into the air that engulfed vehicles and homes in flames, authorities said.
The Learjet 55 was transporting a young female patient from Philadelphia, where she had been treated for a medical emergency, to her home in Mexico, said Shai Gold, a spokesperson for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which owns the plane.
She was accompanied by her mother and the plane’s crew, consisting of two pilots, a doctor and a paramedic, Gold said. The patient had been treated at Shriners Children’s in Philadelphia, said hospital spokesperson Mel Bower.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that all six people on the plane were Mexican nationals.
Several people injured in connection with the crash were taken to Temple Health. Three were released after treatment, and three others remained hospitalised, said spokesperson Jennifer Reardon, without elaborating on whether they had been on the plane or on the ground.
The plane had a planned stop in Missouri for fuel before its final destination, Tijuana International Airport, Gold said.
Based on the intensity of the crash and the debris field, “we are doubtful that there are any survivors”, he said.
The plane had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it crashed, the Federal Aviation Administration said. It crashed five kilometres away about 6pm, across from the Roosevelt Mall, local authorities said.
“Several dwellings and vehicles were impacted,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said at a news conference.
She told residents not to touch anything that looked like debris and to stay inside if possible. Shelter was being provided for residents at a local high school. (Story continues below)
Debris of the crashed aircraft lies on the road at the site of a plane crash in Philadelphia on Friday night. (Photo: Reuters)
Sharp descent
It is unclear why the plane crashed. The jet plummeted to the ground within a minute of takeoff, according to Flightradar24, an aviation tracking w
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