A view of the scene after a small plane crashed in a residential area in the US city of Philadelphia on January 31, 2025.Photo:Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty
Just after 6:00 p.m. local time on Jan. 31, a medical jet carrying two passengers — amother and her daughter— as well as four crew members crashed near Roosevelt Mall at Cottman and Bustleton avenues. One person on the ground was also killed as a result of the crash and 24 were injured.
One major finding in the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report, which was released on Thursday, Mar. 6, was that the Learjet 55’s cockpit voice recorder didn’t record the fatal crash — and that it had “likely not been recording audio for several years.”
Additionally, according to the NTSB’s report, although the medical jet’s flight crew had been in communication with an air traffic control tower at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, where the flight departed about a minute before the crash, there were “no distress calls” recorded.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy previously said air traffic controllers didn’t hear anything concerning before the crash, theAssociated Pressreported.
The report did not contain any additional information about the cause of the crash.
An EMT who helped transport Valentina and her mother to the airport that day said that Valentina had spina bifida and was receiving treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia, but that the entire family was"excited to go" home to Mexico.
Valentina Guzman Murillo, Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, Co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla.Hearts of Baja/Facebook Jet Rescue Air Ambulance
Hearts of Baja/Facebook Jet Rescue Air Ambulance
In their report, NTSB officials said the plane was equipped with an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, which helps pilots avoid collisions with terrain or obstacles.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
According to the boy’s father, after Andre woke up from brain surgery he asked about two pressing matters: his sister’s safety and whether he’d missed rooting for thePhiladelphia Eaglesto win the Super Bowl.
“He asked me, ‘Daddy, what’s today?’ I was like, ‘Monday.’ ‘OK, wait. We didn’t play yesterday did we?’ ‘No, you didn’t miss the Super Bowl,’ " fatherAndre Howard Jr. told ABC News.
A view of the wreckage from a small plane after it crashed in a residential area in the US city of Philadelphia on January 31, 2025.Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty
Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty
The crash in Philly took place just two days after aBlack Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines flightover Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.
source: people.com
