Jet carrying six crashes in Philadelphia suburb, sparks fires

A small jet carrying six people crashed into a densely populated neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday night, igniting multiple fires and triggering a major emergency response.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the aircraft was a Learjet 55, which had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and was bound for Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
While the FAA initially stated only two people were onboard, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later reported that six people were believed to have been aboard.
There has been no official confirmation of survivors or casualties. However, local media footage showed a fireball followed by burning buildings and vehicles in the area.
FOX29 broadcasted images of plumes of smoke rising from the crash site.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating that emergency services were actively responding and that the state was providing all available resources.
“We’ll continue to provide updates as more information becomes available,” he wrote.
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management described the situation as a “major incident,” urging residents to avoid the area near Roosevelt Mall, where multiple roads were shut down.
First responders, including police and fire crews, were seen working to contain the blaze and assess the damage.
This crash comes just two days after a devastating collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter near Washington’s Reagan National Airport, which claimed 67 lives—the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in nearly 25 years.
Authorities, including the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
Jet carrying six crashes in Philadelphia suburb, sparks fires