A medical plane carrying a child patient and 5 others crashes in Philadelphia, setting homes ablaze

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood shortly after takeoff Friday evening, exploding in a fireball that engulfed several homes.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operated the Learjet 55, said in a statement: “We cannot confirm any survivors.” There was no immediate word whether anyone on the ground was killed.

All six people aboard were from Mexico. The child had been treated in Philadelphia for a life-threatening condition and was being transported home, according to Jet Rescue spokesperson Shai Gold. The flight’s final destination was to have been Tijuana after a stop in Missouri.

The patient and her mother were on board along with four crew members. Gold said this was a seasoned crew and everyone involved in these flights goes through rigorous training.

“When an incident like this happens, it’s shocking and surprising,” Gold told The Associated Press. “All of the aircraft are maintained, not a penny is spared because we know our mission is so critical.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference late Friday that officials expected fatalities in the “awful aviation disaster.”

“We know that there will be loss,” he said.

The plane was registered in Mexico. Jet Rescue is based in Mexico and has operations both there and in the U.S.

The crash came just two days after the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in midair in Washington, D.C., with an Army helicopter carrying three soldiers. There were no survivors.

The Philadelphia crash was the second fatal incident in 15 months for Jet Rescue. In 2023 five crewmembers were killed when their plane overran a runway in the central Mexican state of Morelos and crashed into a hillside.

In Philadelphia, a doorbell camera captured video of the plane plunging in a streak of white and exploding as it hit the ground near a shopping mall and major roadway.

“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.

The crash happened less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, which primarily serves business jets and charter flights.

The Learjet 55 quickly disappeared from radar after taking off from the airport at 6:06 p.m. and climbing to an altitude of 1,600 feet (487 meters). It was registered to a company operating as Med Jets, according to the flight tracking website Flight Aware.

In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, President Donald Trump said: “So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia.”

“More innocent souls lost,” he added. “Our people are totally engaged.”

A continuous stream of police vehicles and fire trucks initially responded at the crash site, taking over business parking lots. Within about an hour, the cry of sirens and shouted orders had faded into relative quiet at the edges of the closed-off area, and darkness settled in as drivers passing by peered out trying to see what was happening.

The plane crashed in a busy intersection near Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping center in the densely populated neighborhood of Rhawnhurst.

One cellphone video taken by a witness moments after the crash showed a chaotic scene with debris scattered across the intersection. A wall of orange glowed just beyond as a plume of black smoke rose into the sky and sirens blared.

Michael Schiavone, 37, was sitting at his home in Mayfair, a nearby neighborhood, when he heard a loud bang and his house shook. He said it felt like a mini earthquake and when he checked his home security camera, it looked like a missile came down.

“There was a large explosion, so I thought we were under attack for a second,” he said.

Jet Rescue, which provides global air ambulance services, flew baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz to Boston after he was shot in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and was involved in transporting patients critically ill with COVID-19.

The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. The NTSB said an investigator arrived and more officials would be there Saturday.

Associated Press writers Rio Yamat, Hallie Golden and Josh Cornfield contributed to this report.

Crime scene tape surrounds the scene where a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Crime scene tape surrounds the scene where a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, center, speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Bystanders watch as first responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after what witnesses say was a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Bystanders watch as first responders work the scene after what witnesses say was a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after what witnesses say was a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after what witnesses say was a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after what witnesses say was a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

First responders work the scene after what witnesses say was a plane crash in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Greenland's prime minister said Wednesday that “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or bought in defiance of a message from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said his administration supported the Arctic island’s right of self-determination but added that the United States will acquire the territory “one way or another.”

Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said the island’s citizens are not American nor Danish because they are Greenlandic. The United States needs to understand that, he wrote in a post in Greenlandic and Danish on Facebook Wednesday.

The future of Greenland will be decided by its people, he wrote.

His post came hours after Trump made a direct appeal to Greenlanders in a speech to Congress on Tuesday.

“We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America," Trump said.

“We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before," he added.

But Trump also said his administration was “working with everybody involved to try to get it,” referring to his wishes to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally.

“We need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said.

Many in Greenland, a vast and mineral-rich island that is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, are worried and offended by Trump’s threats to seize control of homeland.

Asked about Trump's comments, Denmark's foreign minister said Wednesday he did not think Greenlanders wanted to separate from Denmark in order to instead become “an integrated part of America.”

Lars Løkke Rasmussen sought to strike an optimistic tone, saying he believed that Trump's reference to respecting Greenlanders' right to self-determination was “the most important part of that speech.”

“I’m very optimistic about what will be a Greenlandic decision about this. They want to loosen their ties to Denmark, we’re working on that, to have a more equal relationship,” the minister said during a trip to Finland.

Løkke added that it was important that next week’s parliamentary elections are free and fair “without any kind of international intervention.”

Greenlanders will head to the polls Tuesday. Trump's recent comments about taking over the island have ignited unprecedented interest in full independence from Denmark, which has become a key issue during campaign season.

Relatives and family members throw rice at Salik and Malu Schmidt as they leave the church of our Savior after getting married in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A piece of ice is photographed melting at the shore of a beach in Nuuk, Greenland, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The northern lights appear over homes in Nuuk, Greenland, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

President Donald Trump talks about Greenland as he addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listen. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)