Soon after the small medical jet crashed into a Philadelphia residential neighborhood on Friday, January 31, it was revealed that one of the six onboard the plane was a female pediatric patient. The girl was flown to the U.S. from Mexico to receive life-saving treatment. She was on her way home with her mother onboard the plane.
Videos by Wide Open Country
According to a Jet Rescue Air Ambulance spokesman, the girl and her mother were accompanied by a doctor, a paramedic, a pilot, and a co-pilot. Said spokesman, Shai Gold, spoke to NBC 10 Philadelphia hours after the tragedy. He gave the tragic details surrounding the pediatric patient aboard the Learjet 55.
"All I can say is, the patient was sponsored by a third-partner charity to undergo life-saving treatment in the U.S.," Gold told the outlet. She did her course of care, she was going home. She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home."
According to the Daily Mail, the medical jet was on its way to Tijuana. It was supposed to make a stop at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico confirmed that all aboard the plane were Mexican nationals.
The tragic crash occurred only 30 seconds after the plane left Northeast Philadelphia Airport at around 6:00 p.m. The plane plummeted down into the Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman intersection near Roosevelt Mall. Following the crash and explosion, several houses and vehicles caught fire, with six people getting injured on the ground.
Life-Saving Treatment
Soon after, the Shriners Children's Philadelphia hospital confirmed to the outlet that the girl was being treated by them.
"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 hospital said in a statement. "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."
Due to privacy reasons, the girl's and her mother's identities have not been revealed. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance stated that they "cannot confirm any survivors." Furthermore, the identities of the plane's occupants will not be revealed until their next of kin are notified properly.
