‘Unthinkable’: Young girl farewelled at hospital party hours before deadly Philadelphia plane crash
New details have been revealed about a young girl who was travelling in a plane which crashed in the US, killing everybody on board and one person on the ground.
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The young girl who was travelling on a medical plane that crashed near a US shopping centre, sparking a massive explosion and killing everyone on board, had just been farewelled by nurses at a party hours earlier.
The medevac jet was carrying six people, including the pediatric patient and her mother, when it crashed in Philadelphia after 6pm on Friday local time, (Saturday Australian time), shortly after departing Northeast Philadelphia Airport to travel to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
Everybody aboard the flight was killed in the crash, and one person was killed on the ground, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said at a press conference on Saturday local time (Sunday AET).
The young girl, who has not yet been identified for privacy reason, was travelling back home to Mexico with her mother after spending four months at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, where she received “lifesaving treatment”.
“She’d been with us four months and had formed some deep bonds with a lot of people here,” hospital spokesman Mel Bower told the New York Post. “In addition to her caregivers, she also had close relationships with other patients.
Mr Bower said members of staff and other patients were in “mourning” after she had been killed hours after throwing her a farewell party.
“It’s a loss that’s being deeply felt by everyone who knew her. I was there (at the hospital) today, and it was very clear how deeply everyone felt about her. What happened was unthinkable.”
The hospital is “checking on everyone” and providing counselling services, Mr Bower told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“We will take her with us as we go forward,” he said of the young victim.
Shai Gold, a spokesperon from Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, told NBC 10 Philadelphia the child had been “sponsored by a third-partner charity to undergo lifesaving treatment in the US”.
“She did her course of care. She was going home,” Gold added. “She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately this tragedy (happened) on the way home.”
The young girl was one of six Mexican nationals on board the plane, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.
Pilots and doctor identified
Pilot Alan Montoya, co-pilot Jesús Juárez and Dr Raul Meza have been named as three of the victims killed in the crash. The girl, her mother and a fourth person from the flight crew are yet to be publicly identified.
“Dr Raúl Meza was part of [the] crew in the air ambulance XA-UCI belonging to another company where [he] also provides his professional services,” Mexican emergency service XE Médica Ambulancia wrote on X.
At least six people on the ground were also transported to the hospital for their injuries, with three that have already been released. Three others remain at Temple University Hospital’s Jeanes Campus for treatment, NBC Philadelphia reported.
‘Just horrific’
The small jet took off from the airport at 6.06pm and reached an altitude of 1,625 feet before plummeting a minute later, according to flight data from FlightRadar24.
Officials received the first emergency call five minutes later at 6.12pm, CBS News reports.
Footage shared on social media shows a large fireball erupting in the sky and debris sprawled across the car park of the Roosevelt Mall as local police and fire responded to the scene.
“It was just horrific,” one eyewitness told WPVI.
“I was just driving down the street, coming to Wendy’s and I just saw a plane basically hit the building and it exploded. The sky light up and I pulled over and basically it was just real bad around here. It lit up the whole sky.”
Domingo Colon and his wife were leaving their home in the Northeast Philadelphia neighbourhood when the jet came screaming down several blocks away in a horrifying moment captured on Colon’s Ring Camera.
The couple heard a loud noise, turned around and saw the aircraft as it disappeared behind the neighbouring townhouses, exploding into a gigantic fireball that lit up the night sky.
The footage shows Colon and his wife rushed back inside for safety.
Philadelphia motorist Chris Andro was driving along Roosevelt Boulevard towards Cottman Avenue when the sky lit up in an orange hue because of the crash, The NY Post reports.
“Holy s***, oh my God, is this on video?” he asked his dashcam that captured the entire chaotic sequence.
The fiery wreck and smoke were visible between the trees and houses in the neighbourhood as Andro stopped at a red light.
Four to six block crash site
Philadelphia City Council member Mike Driscoll said on Friday (local time) the crash was an “active emergency response situation” with “reported mass casualties”.
“My heart is so heavy as we continue to learn more about this tragic plane crash in Northeast Philly. We are in direct communication with our emergency response teams to monitor the ongoing impacts to the immediate and surrounding area,” he said in a statement.
Fire officials said multiple homes in the area of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, about 5km from the airport, were on fire following the crash. Parts of the plane are also believed to have hit cars in the area, police sources told CBS News.
Authorities said the crash site extends four to six blocks.
It remains unclear what led to the crash but Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he is in communication with first responders at the scene.
“We are offering all Commonwealth resources as they respond to the small private plane crash in Northeast Philly,” he said in a post on X.
“We’ll continue to provide updates as more information is available.”
US President Donald Trump responded to the incident on Truth Social, writing it is “so sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”.
“More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged. First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job. More to follow. God Bless you all.”
The US’ Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Authorities are continuing to search for the aircraft’s black box.
The incident comes days after a US Army Black Hawk and an American Airlines plane collided in the country’s worst air disaster since 2001.
Flight AA5342 was coming in to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at about 9pm (1pm Thursday AEDT) when tragedy struck.
The passenger plane had 64 passengers and crew on board while the Black Hawk (H-60) had three.
Mr Trump confirmed on Thursday there were no survivors, with at least 40 bodies so far recovered.
– With the New York Post
Originally published as ‘Unthinkable’: Young girl farewelled at hospital party hours before deadly Philadelphia plane crash
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