Category - News
Shocking Discovery Made in North Philly Plane Crash Wreckage
A residential neighborhood in North Philadelphia resembled a war zone after a medical jet carrying six passengers and crew crashed just after 6 p.m. on Friday night. The cause for the crash is still under investigation, however the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered the black box voice recorder, which will hopefully provide some answers.
In an update provided on Sunday, via CBS News, the NTSB said investigators found the voice recorder at the "site of initial impact, at a depth of eight feet." In aerial footage taken in the wake of the crash, a large crater could be seen near where the jet made impact. Authorities also said that they located the craft's enhanced ground proximity warning system, which may contain flight data.
@fox29philadelphia PLANE CRASH AFTERMATH: SKYFOX was over the scene in Northeast Philadelphia as sunrise shined new light on the aftermath of a medical transport plane that crashed into the neighborhood with six people on board. Philadelphia PhillyPlaneCrash Philly FOX29News
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Both the black box and warning system have been sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C. for analysis.
The identity of the six people aboard the aircraft, which was bound for Mexico after a stopover Missouri, in have also been released. The jet was carrying 11-year-old Valentina Guzman Murillo, who had just received treatment for a life-threatening illness at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia; her mother, Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, 31; the pilot, Captain Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales; co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez; Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo; and a paramedic, Rodrigo Lopez Padilla. All six were Mexican nationals.
Murillo had just been released from the hospital prior to the crash, which occurred after the jet reached 1,500 feet in altitude less than a minute after taking off from the nearby Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Hospital staff were left stunned in the wake of the tragedy.
"It's extremely hard and extremely difficult, those that were involved directly in her care were very aware that she was going to be traveling home and there had actually been a sendoff for her today," hospital spokesperson Mel Bower said on Friday night.
A seventh person on the ground was killed in a vehicle, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a press conference on Sunday. Additionally, there were at least 22 people injured and three who remain in critical condition.