Philadelphia Plane Crash Update: Learjet 55 Air Ambulance Incident Claims Seven Lives

The aircraft was owned by a company based in Mexico and all passengers were Mexican citizens. All passengers and one person on the ground were killed.

PHILADELPHIA - The City of Philadelphia has been updating the public on a recent plane crash involving a Learjet 55 air ambulance that carried six people. After reaching an altitude of 1,500 feet, the aircraft made a steep descent that lasted less than a minute before crashing into the ground, as reported by NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy.

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“We were looking at GPS data on the aircraft,” Homendy said adding, “[The aircraft made] a slight right turn, followed by a slight left turn, and then a steep descent toward the ground, where it crashed. The flight lasted less than a minute.”

"I want to stress this was a high-impact crash, and the plane is highly fragmented,” she added. “[The black box] could be intact, but likely it is very damaged. It may be fragmented.”

The crash occurred at 6:30 p.m. near the Roosevelt Mall, shortly after the Learjet 55 air ambulance left Philadelphia Airport en route to Missouri Springfield-Branson National Airport.

The Learjet had been transporting a pediatric patient named Valentina Guzman Murillo, who had just finished receiving treatment from the Shriners Children's Hospital and was accompanied by her mother, Lizeth.

The aircraft was owned by a company based in Mexico and all passengers were Mexican citizens including:

• The Captain: Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales

• The Copilot: Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez

• Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo

• Rodrigo Lopez Padilla

• Valentina Guzman Murillo

• Lizeth Murillo Ozuna

All passengers on the plane were killed, and a seventh on the ground who hasn't been identified was also killed, according to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.

Over 20 people on the ground have been treated for injuries resulting from the crash, according to local hospitals in the area. One man was struck by debris a quarter mile away from the site of the crash.

According to fire officials, five homes and six cars on Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard were on fire after jet fuel dropped from the aircraft onto the homes, the fires have since been brought under control.