At least seven people died when a medevac plane crashed in Philadelphia on Friday – six Mexicans aboard the plane and one person who was on the ground – Mexico’s president and Philadelphia’s mayor said yesterday.Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker told a press conference that the person who died on the ground had been in a car at the site of the crash.“Thus far, our count is that there are 19 injured victims,” she said.Separately, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X that she had asked consular officials to support the families of the six Mexican citizens who were on the plane and died when it crashed.Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, based in Mexico and licensed to operate in the US, said on Friday that its aircraft crashed with four crew members, one paediatric medical patient and the patient’s mother on board.The child was a girl on her way home with a final destination of Tijuana, Shai Gold, who works on corporate strategy with Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, told CNN on Friday.“The patient had received care from Shriners Children’s Philadelphia and was being transported back to her home country in Mexico on a contracted air ambulance when the crash happened,” said Mel Bower, a spokesman for Shriners Children’s.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the aircraft had taken off shortly before from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.The crash happened just after 6pm (2300 GMT).Dozens of emergency workers were on the scene outside Roosevelt Mall, a strip mall in northeast Philadelphia with retailers and food outlets.US President Donald Trump posted on Friday on his Truth Social platform that he was “sad” to see “more souls lost” in the Philadelphia tragedy.The FAA said it was launching an investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).Both agencies are already investigating the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century, after a passenger jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday.The airliner with 64 people onboard was landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington – just miles from the White House – when it collided with the US Army helicopter on a training mission.Divers were scouring on Friday for the remaining bodies in the Potomac River, after having pulled 41 from the water.Investigators on Friday found the helicopter’s black box after having already retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorder from the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary.Officials are confident data can be fully extracted from the recorders, said NTSB member Todd Inman, adding an investigation was still being carried out.However, the lack of clarity over the accident’s cause did not deter Trump’s politicised commentary.He appeared to place blame on the military helicopter in a post on the Truth Social platform, saying it was “flying too high, by a lot.”This followed a news conference on Thursday where the Republican pinned the blame for the crash on his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama, claiming without evidence they had hired the wrong people due to non-discrimination initiatives known as DEI.Chesley Sullenberger, who famously landed a stricken passenger plane on New York’s Hudson River in 2009, told network MSNBC that he was “disgusted” but “not surprised” by Trump’s rhetoric.Aviation experts homed in on whether the helicopter crew could see through military night-vision goggles – and whether the control tower was understaffed.
