The death toll from the crash of a medical jet carrying a Mexican child home from a hospital in Philadelphia has risen to seven, officials said Saturday, with 19 others wounded.
The crash – the second major aviation disaster in the United States this week – occurred Friday when the twin-engine Learjet 55 plummeted towards a busy Philadelphia neighborhood, exploding on impact and showering wreckage over homes and vehicles.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker told a press conference that the person who died on the ground had been in a car at the site of the crash.
“Thus far, our count is that there are 19 injured victims,” Parker said.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, based in Mexico and licensed to operate in the U.S., on Friday said its aircraft crashed with four crew members, one pediatric medical patient and the patient’s mother on board.
The child was a girl on her way home with a final destination of Tijuana, Shai Gold, who works on corporate strategy with Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, told CNN on Friday. Her mother was also aboard, he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted her condolences on social media platform X.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said it was launching an investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Both agencies are already probing the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century, after a passenger jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe airliner with 64 people onboard was landing at Reagan National Airport in the Washington area – just miles from the White House – when it collided with a US Army helicopter on a training mission.
With inputs from agencies