Everything we know about Philadelphia plane crash as identities confirmed of all six passengers killed in tragic incident

On the evening of Friday, 31 January, an air ambulance which had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport just seconds earlier plummeted to the ground and exploded in a fireball.

The plane, a Learjet 55 which had been carrying six people, was destroyed while significant damage was done to buildings and vehicles in and around the blast.

Crashing in a busy intersection the plane hit the ground near Philadelphia's Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping centre in the densely populated neighbourhood of Rhawnhurst.

The aircraft had reached an altitude of around 1,500ft before dropping sharply and colliding with the city street

All six people on board the plane are confirmed to have died, while at least one person on the ground was killed as well.

There were various witnesses to the crash, which occurred in a busy area and thus was captured on a variety of cameras.

Philadelphia plane crash victims

All six people on board the plane died in the crash (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

All six people on the air ambulance have been identified as Mexican nationals, with their journey intended to take them from Philadelphia to Missouri and then on to Tijuana.

Valentina Guzman Murillo, a young girl who had been receiving treatment for a life threatening condition at Shriners Children’s Hospital, was on board the plane with her mother Lizeth Murillo Ozuna.

Also on board the plane was Dr Raul Meza Arredon and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla.

The aircraft crew were captain Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales and his co-pilot Josue Juarez.

All six people on board were identified by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the flight's operator, while the identity of the person who died on the ground is not yet known.

At least 19 other people on the ground were injured, though many have been released from hospital after receiving treatment, among the injured was a man who was struck on the head by debris while he was sat in a restaurant a quarter of a mile away from the crash site.

Investigation underway into what caused the Philadelphia plane crash

Nearby vehicles and buildings were destroyed in the crash, with one person on the ground killed in their car (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The cause of the crash is currently the subject of an investigation, with NBC reporting that the crash site could be attended for days or even weeks.

A priority for the investigation will be recovering the plane's cockpit voice recorder as that may help shed some light on those fateful seconds between the plane taking off and crashing.

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said that finding it and recovering information from it was one of the main parts of the investigation.

She said: "The condition could be fragmented, could be damaged.

"I will say that we have an incredible team at our headquarters, our office of research and engineering who have significant expertise in repairing damaged cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders.

"In fact, we’re known throughout the world. Other countries send their black boxes to us to fix. And so hopefully, once we can find it, that’s the biggest question right now, we can take that back to our lab and evaluate it."

If the flight logs can explain what happened to the plane to cause it to crash shortly after take off, that would greatly aid the investigation.

Air traffic control audio during the crash

As you can hear above, air traffic control staff attempted to establish contact with the air ambulance, with one voice heard asking: "What's going on down there?"

"We have a lost aircraft," a second voice replies.

"We’re not exactly sure what happened. So, we’re trying to figure it out. The field is going to be closed so no inbounds-outbounds."

What has Donald Trump said about the Philadelphia plane crash?

The US president posted about the crash on his own social media site, Truth Social.

"So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia," Trump wrote.

"More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged."

Meanwhile, Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum released a statement saying: "I mourn the passing of six Mexicans in the aviation accident in Philadelphia, United States.

"Consular authorities are in constant contact with the families; I’ve asked the Foreign Affairs Secretary to support whatever is needed. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends."