Audio from an air visitors management tower at Northeast Philadelphia Airport reveals the horrific moments earlier than a medical ambulance aircraft crashed in Philadelphia Friday night time whereas transporting a pediatric affected person.
The audio, obtained by Fox Information Digital, was recorded moments earlier than the aircraft took off. Operators might be heard talking as they desperately tried to make contact with the Learjet 55 earlier than it crashed.
“What’s going on down there?” one air visitors controller might be heard saying.
“We have a lost aircraft. We’re not exactly sure what happened. So, we’re trying to figure it out,” replies one other air visitors controller. “The field is going to be closed so no inbounds-outbounds.”
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the corporate working the aircraft, mentioned the plane was a Learjet 55 whereas departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport round 6:30 p.m.
The corporate mentioned there have been 4 crew members and two passengers on the aircraft on the time – a pilot, copilot, doctor, paramedic, pediatric affected person and her mom.
They have been all Mexican nationals.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed there have been six folks on the aircraft.
The company mentioned the aircraft was heading to Springfield-Branson Nationwide Airport in Missouri.
Air Ambulance spokesperson Shai Gold instructed Fox Information Digital the affected person was a Mexican nationwide who was within the US for life-saving medical therapy.
On the finish of therapy, she was launched to go house.
John Anderson, a retired pilot from Philadelphia, instructed Fox Information Digital that, based mostly on the video of the crash and the best way the plane struck the bottom, the probably trigger was a takeoff stall.
“The plane was out of the crew’s control. It was not controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). May have been a mechanical malfunction of the stabilizer, elevator, trim or even a load shift rearward within the cabin,” Anderson mentioned.
He additional speculated that if “it was a medical flight with a stretcher on board and the stretcher was not properly secured, it may have rolled rearward.”
“This would cause the nose to raise and stall the wing. In that case, the nose will drop with the angle in the video,” he mentioned. “Because it was right after takeoff and the initial climb, I would say it was likely aswing stall. There could be a number of factors that would cause a stall. Could have been a runaway trim, malfunctioning stabilizer.”
Friday night time’s catastrophe comes simply barely 48 hours after a lethal collision between an American Airways flight and an Military helicopter close to Reagan Nationwide Airport that resulted within the deaths of 67 folks.
