A small medical jet carrying six people crashed in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood Friday evening, officials said, causing an explosion and setting several homes ablaze. It’s unclear if anyone aboard survived. Several people on the ground were injured, Philadelphia police said.
The plane, a Learjet 55, had just departed Northeast Philadelphia Airport bound for Springfield, Missouri, when it went down, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane crashed into a neighborhood near the Roosevelt Mall just moments after leaving the airstrip at approximately 6:07 p.m. The first emergency calls went out about five minutes later, at 6:12 p.m. The crash occurred in the area of Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia police confirmed.