The National Transportation Safety Board has released a public docket on the January 31, 2025 Learjet 55 medevac crash in Northeast Philadelphia that killed eight people. The docket includes surveillance video, photographs of the debris field, and hundreds of pages of evidentiary material. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
The aircraft departed Northeast Philadelphia Airport carrying a pediatric patient bound for Tijuana, Mexico. Shortly after takeoff, the jet deviated from its departure path and struck the ground in front of Roosevelt Mall on Cottman Avenue, a densely populated commercial corridor.
All six people aboard were killed. Two people on the ground also died, and more than 20 others were injured. Homes and businesses in the surrounding area sustained damage.
Among the newly released materials are two surveillance videos: one captured on a neighborhood Ring camera showing the impact and explosion, and a second from a fast-food restaurant's exterior camera showing the aircraft descending. Debris photographs were also included in the docket release.
The NTSB has not stated a probable cause. That determination will come at the conclusion of the full investigation.
Update (August 19, 2026 at 8:09 PM ET)
- The plane was headed for Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, not Tijuana, Mexico.
- The crew made no distress calls.
- The plane departed from Miami before traveling to Philadelphia.
- After arrival in Philadelphia, there was no detailed post-flight inspection, only a brief one-minute and ten-second walk-around before departure.
- Med Jets, the operator, had a record of three prior accidents dating back to 2013, with two of those being fatal.
- The plane was in the air for only one minute before the crash.
- 22 people were injured in the crash.
Update (August 19, 2026 at 8:18 PM ET)
- Some of the newly released videos show the aircraft at Northeast Philadelphia Airport before takeoff.
- A preliminary NTSB report found that the medical jet was airborne for less than a minute before it rapidly descended and crashed along Cottman Avenue.
Update (August 19, 2026 at 8:28 PM ET)
- The crew made no distress calls.
- The operator Med Jets had a history of three prior accidents dating back to 2013, two of which were fatal.
- The plane departed from Miami before traveling to Philadelphia.
- After arrival in Philadelphia, there was no detailed post-flight inspection, only a brief one-minute and ten-second walk-around before departure.
- The plane was in the air for only one minute before crashing.
- The plane's final destination was Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, not Tijuana, Mexico.
