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Topics: US News
Jess Battison
In a second air tragedy this week, an air ambulance carrying a child crashed into a US neighbourhood on Friday evening (31 January).
The small medical transport plane was carrying four crew members, a child patient and her mother.
About 30 seconds after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, it crashed into several buildings and erupted in a fireball, setting several homes and vehicles on fire.
"At this time we cannot confirm any survivors,” said the Mexico-based air ambulance company Jet Rescue Air Ambulance that operated the plane.
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The Mexican government said all those on board the jet were Mexican nationals.
The young patient had been treated in Philadelphia for a life-threatening condition and was being flown back home to Mexico, according to Jet Rescue Air Ambulance spokesperson Shai Gold. The flight was set to stop in Springfield, Missouri before reaching its final destination in Tijuana.
“When an incident like this happens, it’s shocking and surprising,” Gold said. “All of the aircraft are maintained, not a penny is spared because we know our mission is so critical.”
Warning: contains distressing scenes
At a news conference late last night, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said officials expect fatalities in this ‘awful aviation disaster’ and added: “We know that there will be loss.”
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Mayor Cherelle Parker said information on fatalities was not immediately available but that a number of homes and vehicles had been damaged.
“This is still an active scene under investigation,” she said.
Emergency crews had rushed to the scene as witnesses described a chaotic scene with injured people and structures engulfed in flames.
A doorbell camera captured footage of the plane falling from the sky and exploding in a fireball as it hit the ground of the residential neighbourhood.
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“All we heard was a loud roar and didn’t know where it was coming from. We just turned around and saw the big plume,” said Jim Quinn, the owner of the doorbell camera.
President Donald Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social it was ‘so sad’ to see the crash.
“More innocent souls lost,” he said. “Our people are totally engaged.”
The Philadelphia crash comes just two days after the US’ deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.
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On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet collided mid-air with an army helicopter over Washington, DC. All 60 passengers and four crew on the plane and the three soldiers on the chopper died in the crash.