Audio from an air traffic tower on Northeastern Philadelphia airport Unveils the horrible moments before a medical ambulance plane deposited in Philadelphia on Friday evening while transporting a child patient.
The audio, obtained by Fox News Digital, was admitted times before the plane started. Operators can be heard because they desperately tried to make contact with the Learjet 55 before it crashed.
“What’s going on there?” An air traffic controller can be heard.
“We have a lost aircraft. We don’t know exactly what happened. So we try to find out,” replies another air traffic controller. “The field will be closed, so no incoming outgoing substances.”
First Responders work on the scene after a small plane crashed in Philadelphia, Friday 31 January 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the company that operates the plane, said that the plane was a LearJet 55 during the departure of the airport Noordoost -Philadelphia around 6.30 pm
The company said there were four crew members and two passengers on the plane at that time – a pilot, Copilot, doctor, paramedic, pediatric patient and her mother. They were all Mexican nationals.
Emergency service staff works at the location of a plane crash in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, January 31, 2025. (Reuters/Rachel Wisniewski)
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that there were six people on the plane. The agency said the plane was on its way to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
Spokesperson for the Air Ambulance Shai Gold told Fox News Digital that the patient was a Mexican national who was in the US for life -saving medical treatment. At the end of the treatment she was released to go home.
John Anderson, a retired pilot from Philadelphia, told Fox News Digital that, based on the video of the crash and the way in which the plane hit the ground, the likely cause was a starting stall.
“The plane was outside the crew checking. It was not a controlled flight to the site (CFIT). Perhaps a mechanical malfunction of the stabilizer, lift, trim or even a charging shift back in the cabin,” Anderson said.
He further speculated that if “it was a medical flight with a stretcher on board and the stretcher was not properly secured, it might have rolled backwards.”
Police vehicles block the area around the location of a plane crash in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, January 31, 2025. (Rachel Wisniewski/Reuters)
“This would cause the nose to lift the wing and stops. In that case the nose will fall with the corner in the video,” he said. “Because it was immediately after taking off and the first climb, I would say that it was probably ASWING stall. There could be a number of factors that would cause a stall. A runaway finish might have been, poorly functioning stabilizer.”
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The disaster of Friday evening only comes 48 hours after one fatal collision Between a flight from the American Airlines and an army helicopter near Reagan National Airport that resulted in the death of 67 people.
Jenny Dehuff and Alexandra Koch from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
