PA - Small plane crashes in Northeast Philadelphia

[nerosleuth]

I'm watching the live WCAU-TV news report on the NBC News YouTube channel.

WCAU-TV reported that there were low hanging clouds in the Philadelphia area throughout the day today. The visibility was 6 miles at the time of the plane crash.

WCAU-TV also reported that the plane crash location is three and a half miles from the airport.

From what I saw of the plane crash from the dash cam video from a vehicle, I fear that the plane could have also crashed onto a busy roadway during heavy traffic on a Friday evening.

 

[GraceG]

too many plane crashes... getting a little paranoid.
northeast weather is foggy with various precipitation-

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/philadelphia/19102/weather-forecast/350540

anyone know about the navigational capabilities of this model plane?

I usually post over on the missing persons thread. I'm a former airline captain and worked as an accident investigator for almost 15 years. (Trish has a copy of my creds but we never finished getting me verified). I flew a Lear 25D back in the day. The 55 is bigger overall but would have the same navigational capabilities. Not having a way to look up a mexican registry airplane I don't know what year it is but it would be capable for flight in all weather (with the exclusion of severe icing which NO one pokes their nose into).

In the US medivac flights have to operate under 14 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 135 which have petty stringest requirements for pilot certificate and maintenance. In Mexico, not so much, and their pilots don't tend to hae as much expeirience flying in winter time type weather as we do up here. If you want to look up the basic FAA report on it - it won't show up til Monday, but go to www.faa.gov around noon on Monday and down at the bottom of the page and click on "accident and incident data" then under "reports" click on "Preliminary data" and when that opens up the first light blue colored link with the accident data tables is there.

And for the person who talked about the "black box" surviving. General Aviation jets aren't installed with them, and aren't required to have them in the US or anywhere else. Some of the newer technology aircraft have data systems that can record some elements of engine and operating data but there is no "black box" (which by the way is orange, and they are VERY heavy - I had to babysit one on a flight to the NTSB Lab on a commercial airline flight once long ago).

Grace

 

[Seattle1]

So confusing -- so densely populated and finally found this was mostly a fuel, major aircraft repair, hangar rental, aircraft rental and charter, flight instruction, and aircraft sales airport facility.

When the airport opened, the surrounding area was largely open farmland. Residential neighborhoods and businesses have since developed close to the airport, so pilots must observe noise abatement procedures

Northeast Philadelphia Airport covers 1,150 acres (470 ha) at an elevation of 120 feet (37 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt runways: 6/24 is 7,000 by 100 feet (2,134 x 30 m) and 15/33 is 4,999 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m).

In the year ending December 7, 2022, the airport had 83,551 aircraft operations, average 229 per day: 94% general aviation, 5% air taxi and less than 1% military. 143 aircraft were then based at the airport: 90 single-engine, 28 multi-engine, 17 jet and 8 helicopter.

Northeast Philadelphia Airport - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[realanastasia]

Holy smokes, this is the route I take to work every week. I am so used to seeing small aircraft taking off or preparing to land at the tiny NE Philadelphia airport off Roosevelt Boulevard (a six lane highway that’s incredibly congested during rush hours) but sometimes I have wondered what would happen if there was an accident—the neighborhoods on either side of the highway are densely packed with apartment buildings, rowhomes, shopping centers, you name it—such that there’s really very little open land where debris could safely fall. While the loss of all the passengers is devastating, IMO it’s even worse to think that the youngest victim had likely been treated (new reporting says it was the Shriners Hospital) at the prestigious Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (I am guessing this because I believe CHOP frequently accepts charity-sponsored patients from around the world) and was probably looking forward to returning home with her mom.

Hoping the resulting blaze is brought under control without additional loss of life.

 

[acutename]

I usually post over on the missing persons thread. I'm a former airline captain and worked as an accident investigator for almost 15 years. (Trish has a copy of my creds but we never finished getting me verified). I flew a Lear 25D back in the day. The 55 is bigger overall but would have the same navigational capabilities. Not having a way to look up a mexican registry airplane I don't know what year it is but it would be capable for flight in all weather (with the exclusion of severe icing which NO one pokes their nose into).

In the US medivac flights have to operate under 14 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 135 which have petty stringest requirements for pilot certificate and maintenance. In Mexico, not so much, and their pilots don't tend to hae as much expeirience flying in winter time type weather as we do up here. If you want to look up the basic FAA report on it - it won't show up til Monday, but go to www.faa.gov around noon on Monday and down at the bottom of the page and click on "accident and incident data" then under "reports" click on "Preliminary data" and when that opens up the first light blue colored link with the accident data tables is there.

And for the person who talked about the "black box" surviving. General Aviation jets aren't installed with them, and aren't required to have them in the US or anywhere else. Some of the newer technology aircraft have data systems that can record some elements of engine and operating data but there is no "black box" (which by the way is orange, and they are VERY heavy - I had to babysit one on a flight to the NTSB Lab on a commercial airline flight once long ago).

Grace

As per my #46 and #57 posts above, it was a 1982. If those sources are accurate.

 

[Seattle1]

NBC/Philly 10 Live just announced that the child victim and her guardian who were on board the flight that crashed was a patient at the PA Shriners Hospital.

Recap: Medical jet carrying girl, others crashes in Northeast Philly, killing at least 7

A small plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, causing a massive explosion and multiple homes to catch fire.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

 

[Amonet]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>
It was a complete nosedive. It hit the ground like a missile.

From the videos I've seen it seems to already be on fire as it's coming down, a small explosion happens as it's coming down on fire and something is thrown off so that there are two flaming streaks coming down together. Then it hits the ground in a large explosion followed quickly by a second explosion. Could this be two fuel tanks, one per engine, exploding?

It will be interesting if there's video of the takeoff to see what was going on during the takeoff.

 

[sds71]

Shriners Children’s is heartbroken to confirm that one of our pediatric patients and the child’s mother were aboard the Jet Rescue Air Ambulance that crashed in Philadelphia this evening. The patient had received care from Shriners Children’s Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened. Because of patient privacy concerns, we cannot say any more about the patient and her family at this time.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the medical crew and pilots who were also lost in this tragic event - as well as all of the people who were affected on the ground - and we’re thankful to the first responders for their quick action.

Recap: Medical jet carrying girl, others crashes in Northeast Philly, killing at least 7

A small plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, causing a massive explosion and multiple homes to catch fire.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

 

[Amonet]

Yea it was a medical flight, it was enroute to Mexico, the stop in Springfield MO was for a fuel stop.

A fuel stop? And 41 seconds post-take off its on fire and exploding and nose-diving?

I watch aviation incident videos, but my mind is just hearing fuel stop and connecting that to a fire starting very fast, either during take-off or very soon thereafter. Could something have gone wrong when they finished re-fueling??

 

[MassGuy]

Police still determining how many cars burnt in crash were occupied​

The plane fell from the sky at rapid speed, crashing into the Cottman Avenue amid rush hour traffic and creating an explosion that engulfed multiple cars, businesses, and homes in flames.

Police were still working to determine how many of those cars — now burnt shells — were occupied. The flames from the burning jet fuel were so strong, the heat could be felt over a block away, said a law enforcement source at the scene who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

First responders encountered an apocalyptic scene. A large crater was left in the middle of the burning road, and human remains scattered the area.

Small plane crashes in Northeast Philly; medical jet company says 6 on board; pediatric patient was on flight, hospital says

The crash happened shortly after 6 p.m. and resulted in a massive fireball.

www.inquirer.com

 

[DS2021]

Police still determining how many cars burnt in crash were occupied

Ugh, so it might get worse?

 

[acutename]

Holy smokes, this is the route I take to work every week. I am so used to seeing small aircraft taking off or preparing to land at the tiny NE Philadelphia airport off Roosevelt Boulevard (a six lane highway that’s incredibly congested during rush hours) but sometimes I have wondered what would happen if there was an accident—the neighborhoods on either side of the highway are densely packed with apartment buildings, rowhomes, shopping centers, you name it—such that there’s really very little open land where debris could safely fall. While the loss of all the passengers is devastating, IMO it’s even worse to think that the youngest victim had likely been treated at the prestigious Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (I am guessing this because I believe CHOP frequently accepts charity-sponsored patients from around the world) and was probably looking forward to returning home with her mom.

Hoping the resulting blaze is brought under control without additional loss of life.

remember when the fuel truck took out I-95 and it was not navigable? well.... another enduring road mess (no disrespect to the dead, but the living will need to keep commuting and they are probably terrified)

 

[AirForceVet24]

A fuel stop? And 41 seconds post-take off its on fire and exploding and nose-diving?

I watch aviation incident videos, but my mind is just hearing fuel stop and connecting that to a fire starting very fast, either during take-off or very soon thereafter. Could something have gone w
rong when they finished re-fueling??S

So they were enroute to Springfield Branson Airport for a fuel stop, aka we were going to refuel them. They were fully loaded with about 1000 gallons of gas for the trip to Springfield alone.

 

[Amonet]

Ugh, so it might get worse?

I'd guess it will take days to work out exactly how many people were in those buildings and cars but remain unaccounted for

 

[realanastasia]

A fuel stop? And 41 seconds post-take off its on fire and exploding and nose-diving?

I watch aviation incident videos, but my mind is just hearing fuel stop and connecting that to a fire starting very fast, either during take-off or very soon thereafter. Could something have gone wrong when they finished re-fueling??

I was wondering about whether there may have been oxygen canisters on board for the patient—they are, I believe, highly flammable and could account for some of the flaming objects seen falling from the sky after the initial explosion.

 

[Amonet]

So they were enroute to Springfield Branson Airport for a fuel stop, aka we were going to refuel them. They were fully loaded with about 1000 gallons of gas for the trip to Springfield alone.

Ahh, so this stop in Philadelphia wasn't a fuel stop? Do you have any idea why it would have landed in Philadelphia if you consider the location where it picked up the patient and that it was headed to Springfield to be refuelled?

ETA I don't mean specifics for this flight, just hypothetically why a plane would land at this airport when it has that origin point and destination for fuel stop.

 

[Seattle1]

ATC lost contact with the flight crew within seconds after take-off...and began reporting the plane as "lost."

 

[iamshadow21]

ATC lost contact with the flight crew within seconds after take-off...and began reporting the plane as "lost."

Sports – NBC10 Philadelphia

In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

Something happened so fast there was no time for the crew to do anything, or alert anyone. A kind of ghost plane event, they just didn't fly for hours before crashing.

I guess that's better than the alternative, of the people on board having time to feel pain and fear.

MOO

 

[Donswife48]

Ahh, so this stop in Philadelphia wasn't a fuel stop? Do you have any idea why it would have landed in Philadelphia if you consider the location where it picked up the patient and that it was headed to Springfield to be refuelled?

The child was being treated at the Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia. They picked up the patient and mother there, fueled at the Philadelphia airport, stopping in Springfield MO to refuel and was traveling home to Tijuana Mexico,

 

[Charlot123]

The Learjet 55 has a fuel capacity of 6,707 lbs. they just took off. I wonder how much fuel they had? Was that explosion just from the jet?

LEARJET 55 Specifications, Operating Cost, Performance

Browse LEARJET 55 factory specications, operating cost, range, speed, and performance for the LEARJET 55 manufactured by Learjet.

www.globalair.com

God forbid there was an oxygen tank for someone oxygen-dependent on board