A plane that crashed in Philadelphia this week was transporting a Mexican child and her mother back to their home country following months of “life-saving treatment” in the U.S., according to reports.
All six crew members and passengers onboard the doomed Learjet 55 have been identified as Mexican nationals.
On Friday, a Mexico-based Jet Rescue Air Ambulance bound for Tijuana slammed into a neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia moments after takeoff, igniting fires that scorched residences and incinerated multiple vehicles.
All aboard the air transport were killed, along with a victim on the ground, and at least 19 more were injured.
On Saturday afternoon, an X user called Detroit Dutch who describes himself as a former employee at the Department of Defense Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center broke information about the crash victims that was previously unreleased.
“The whole crew was Mexican Nationals (Mexican Doctors and Nurses) and the passenger was a Mexican minor being treated at the Shriner’s Hospital there in PA for free, and after treatment was being flown home,” Detroit Dutch reported.
The whole crew was Mexican Nationals (Mexican Doctors and Nurses) and the passenger was a Mexican minor being treated at the Shriner's Hospital there in PA for free, and after treatment was being flown home. https://t.co/u470tfgJgs
— Detroit Dutch (@DetDutch) February 1, 2025
“She’d been with us four months and had formed some deep bonds with a lot of people here,” hospital spokesman Mel Bower told the New York Post. “In addition to her caregivers, she also had close relationships with other patients.”
“It’s a loss that’s being deeply felt by everyone who knew her. I was there (at the hospital) today, and it was very clear how deeply everyone felt about her. What happened was unthinkable.”
Detroit Dutch speculated about the age of the aircraft and the also experience of the pilots in a subsequent post.
“It would be nice to know how old that Lear Jet was? How many hours on the airframe? These ‘old’ Lear jets have outlived their time, but companies like this life flight service keep them in the air for cheap. They also use pilots with low hrs (as it was a Mexican Flight),” he stated.
Another X user responded to him with a screenshot indicating the Learjet may have been 43 years old.
Mexican registration on a 43 year old jet. pic.twitter.com/wa2is492mS
— Rich M (@MM967449) February 2, 2025
Passengers aboard the air ambulance, which was scheduled to land in Tijuana following a layover in Missouri, included two pilots, a doctor, and a paramedic, all of whom were Mexican citizens.
“At the moment we know that our head of neonatology, Dr. Raúl Meza, was part of the crew of the XA-UCI air ambulance belonging to another company where Dr. Meza also provides his professional services,” Mexican private emergency service XE Médica Ambulancias explained in a statement on Saturday.
“Dr. Meza studied medicine at UNAM, graduated as a pediatrician and neonatologist from the National Institute of Pediatrics and is a physician assigned to the NICU at ISEM Atizapán.”
Al momento sabemos que nuestro jefe de neonatología el Dr. Raúl Meza, formaba parte de la tripulación de la ambulancia aérea XA-UCI perteneciente a otra empresa donde el Dr. Meza también presta sus servicios profesionales.
— XE Médica Ambulancias 🇲🇽 (@XEMedica) February 1, 2025
El Dr. Meza estudió medicina en la UNAM, pediatra y…
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