Niamh Shackleton
All six people on board a medical jet that crashed in Philadelphia yesterday have died.
Around 6:30pm local time yesterday (January 31), a Jet Rescue Air Ambulance left Northeast Philadelphia Airport, but was only airborne for a minute before crashing into a residential area.
The six passengers on the plane included a child patient, their mother, and four crew members.
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People had feared the worst when it came to the passengers' well-being, and it's now been confirmed that there were no survivors.
Confirming the sad news, Philadelphia Mayor, Cherelle Parker, said in a statement, as per BBC News: "A devastating plane crash occurred in Northeast Philadelphia near Roosevelt Mall at Cottman and Bustleton Avenues on Friday evening, January 31, 2025, at approximately 6:10 pm.
"A private Learjet 55 - a medical transportation jet - departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport with two passengers, a mother and daughter, and four crew members were killed in the tragic crash."
The statement adds that jet was in the air for 'only a minute before it crashed'.
In the wake of the jet crashing into a residential area, people on the ground have also been injured in the devastating ordeal.
"Many people on the ground - in parking lots, on streets, in cars and homes in the area - were injured," the statement went on.
The mayor's office did not confirm how many were injured, but other reports have said that six were taken to hospital for treatment, three of whom have since been released.
Yesterday's fatal crash marks the second to have occurred in North America in recent days.
On Wednesday night (January 29), an American Airlines plane collided with an army helicopter, causing both to crash into the Potomac River.
The two aircraft were carrying 67 people between them: 60 passengers, four crew members, and three army soldiers.
Heartbreakingly, no one survived the ordeal and police are continuing to recover bodies.
At the time of writing, 41 bodies are said to have been pulled from the river so far.
Officials are banking on the two black boxes that were on the aircraft to work out how the crash happened.
Many people who were onboard the plane and helicopter have already been identified, but the US Army has not named the Black Hawk pilot at the family's request.
Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves have been named as two of the three soldiers who were on the helicopter.
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