Pilot Alan Montoya and Jesus Juarez of the Philadelphia Learjet 55 Jet Rescue Air Ambulances died in the plane crash
The Learjet 55 plane crashed in northeastern Philadelphia on Friday night, killing all six people on board. Pilot Alan Montoya and co-pilot Jesus Juarez were at the controls of the air ambulance.
The pilots at the controls of the aircraft when it crashed on Cottman Avenue, Alan Montoya and Jesus Juarez, were recognized by Mexican officials on Saturday.
Who are Mexicans Alan Montoya and Jesus Juarez as pilot of Philadelphia Learjet 55 Jet Rescue Air Ambulances die in plane crash
A small girl who had received “life-saving care” from a Philadelphia hospital was flown to Mexico with her mother by Montoya and Juarez. At 6:06 p.m., they departed Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Prior to their flight to Tijuana, Mexico, they were supposed to make a stop at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. But the medevac plane crashed into the ground a few minutes after taking off.
They were the pilots of the Mexican air ambulance jet XA-UCI that crashed in Philadelphia—Josué Juárez and Alan Montoya from Veracruz, Mexico. Rest in peace. 💔 pic.twitter.com/TtULnWQ6SS
— ᴘʀɪꜱᴄɪʟᴀ✨💫 (@prisciladesigns) February 1, 2025
Two of the victims were from Ensenada, a coastal city south of Tijuana. All passengers on the air ambulance were Mexicans.
A young girl who had recently finished treatment at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia was being transported on the Learjet 55 with her mother. She had been traveling with her mother, Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, and Jet Rescue eventually identified her as Valentina Guzman Murillo.
Valentina was 11 and her mother was 31.
Valentina was facing several medical issues as a result of a spinal condition and had been treated at Shriners Children’s in Philadelphia since the end of August and while hospital declined to disclose details but said it was hard to find treatment for her condition in Mexico.
Well, they've named the pilots of Learjet 55 plane crash
As pilot Alan Montoya/co-pilot Josué Juárez
And who was flying the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter
As Rebecca Lobach, a UNC Chapel Hill ROTC graduate
May they rest in peace~ 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/yZVwXGElcG
— TruthInBytes (@bytesintruth) February 1, 2025
The pilot, copilot, and one of the physicians on board the medical transport plane that crashed deadly Friday night in Northeast Philadelphia have been identified as a total of seven people died in the crash.
The copilot who died in the Learjet 55 crash was identified as Jesus Juarez, and the pilot was identified as Alan Montoya.
The six people on the plane were identified as Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, patient, age 11 Valentina Guzman Murillo and her mother, age 31 Lizeth Murillo Ozuna.
Montoya was piloting the Learjet 55 at the time of the crash, while Juarez served as his co-pilot and Juárez lived in central Mexico, loved salsa dancing and video games and had been a pilot for more than a decade, his brother revealed. He loved to fly and worked for the air ambulance service for more than a year, flying mostly from Mexico’s Caribbean coast to the United States, “He was always aware that he had his risks, but the truth is that more accidents happen on the road,” Édgar Juárez said.
Jesus Juarez posted a picture from inside the aircraft on Facebook just hours before the deadly crash, which featured the call letters for Northeast Philadelphia Airport and a framed picture of an airplane.
“Now if I went all the way home to the… Far away…,” he wrote in the post.
The Learjet 55’s six passengers were all Mexican. Dr. Raul Meza, who was part of the crew in the air ambulance XA-UCI belonging to another company where he also provides his professional services, was one of the doctors on board. This has been revealed by Mexican emergency service XE Médica Ambulancia.
In addition to causing property damage, the collision claimed the life of one person on the ground and injured 19 others. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, based in Mexico, was the owner of Learjet 55.
Learjet 55
Pilot Alan Montoya and co-pilot Jesús Juárez were at the controls of the Learjet 55 as they flew a young girl who had just received “life-saving care” from a Philadelphia hospital and her mother home to Mexico, according to the outlet Milenio.
Also on board was Dr. Raul Meza. pic.twitter.com/9Y5NF3Ptwr— JennyJenny8675309 (@JennyJenny1958) February 1, 2025
One of the workhorses in Jet Rescue Air Ambulance’s fleet of medical transport planes was destroyed in a catastrophic explosion during rush hour.
With 11 trips in the past week, the 43-year-old twin-engine aircraft, which was built in 1982, has completed 73 flights in the last three months, landing in 43 cities around the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other nations. The Mexican businessman who owns the air ambulance has three prior crashes on file, the most recent of which occurred in 2023 when a pilot overran the runway, killing five people in Mexico.