Less than one-minute after takeoff on the evening of January 31, 2025, a Learjet 55 model aircraft owned by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a Mexican based operator, crashed into a busy Philadelphia neighborhood killing all six occupants on board as well as an individual on the ground. Twenty-four other individuals on the ground were injured, some critically. The primary debris field spans 4-6 blocks and additional debris has been located throughout the Philadelphia neighborhood. The aircraft had departed from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport with an intended stop at the Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri before proceeding to its destination in Tijuana, Mexico. All six persons aboard the aircraft were Mexican Nationals, including a pediatric patient who had received life-saving medical care in Philadelphia. The patient’s mother also died in the crash, as did a physician, paramedic and the two-person flight crew.
Video of the crash showed the accident aircraft in a severe nose down pitch attitude and impacted the ground with significant force causing a crater and massive fireball. The crash caused substantial property damage including engulfing in fire five homes and numerous vehicles.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into this deadly crash. The NTSB located the aircraft’s Cockpit Voice Recorder in a crater 8 feet deep. Investigators also recovered the aircraft’s Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) which should contain flight data including data from the accident flight. The NTSB’s Vehicle Recorder Division and Laboratory will analyze both the CVR and EGPWS and it is expected that these components will assist investigators in determining the cause of his tragedy.
Speiser Krause, a national aviation law firm with offices in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, will continue to provide updates as more information is released.