Dr Raul Meza and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla died in the Philadelphia Learjet 55 Jet Rescue Air Ambulances crash
The mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, confirmed that all six people on board and at least one person on the ground were killed when a tiny medical transport plane Learjet 55 crashed into multiple buildings in the city on Friday night.
The Learjet 55 was traveling on a medical transport mission, with a brief stopover in Missouri before continuing on to Tijuana, Mexico. Along with two pilots, a physician, and a paramedic, it was transporting a child patient and her mother. They were all citizens of Mexico.
Who are Dr Raul Meza and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla who died in Philadelphia Learjet 55 Jet Rescue Air Ambulances plane crash
However, the Learjet 55 crashed to the ground a minute after takeoff. The jet is shown on video crashing rapidly and igniting a massive blaze with all six people onboard having lost their lives including a person on ground with many left injured.
Adam Thiel, the managing director of the city of Philadelphia, stated during a press conference on Saturday that it would likely take “days or more” before authorities could verify “the number of folks who perished in this tragedy and the outcome of those who were injured.”
The girl on the journey to Mexico had recently completed treatment at Philadelphia’s Shriners Children’s Hospital for a potentially fatal condition.
According to hospital spokeswoman Mel Bower, workers had thrown her a celebration party earlier on Friday. The news of the catastrophe had “impacted very deeply” the personnel who cared for her, he added.
Two of the victims were from Ensenada, a coastal city south of Tijuana.
Seven people in total have now been confirmed dead, with 19 more injured, following the shocking incident on Friday evening and several dwellings and vehicles sustained damage in the crash.
Dr Raul Meza who died in the crash was the head of neonatology for XE Médica Ambulancias, a private emergency services company, and had been providing his services to Jet Rescue Air Ambulances at the time of the incident.
Dr. Raúl Meza, had been on board the “air ambulance,” which belonged to “another company” where Meza provided his “professional services.” Meza had three different jobs and he was working for another emergency services company as part of the flight crew during the accident.
Médica Ambulancias confirmed he had been on board the flight and Meza studied medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and pediatrics and neonatology at the National Institute of Pediatrics. He was a physician assigned to the NICU at the Instituto de Salud del Estado de México in Atizapan, over 2,000 km from where the plane was due to land in Tijuana and Rodrigo Lopez Padilla a paramedic was also named as among the dead.
El Dr Raúl Meza pic.twitter.com/njEVRDQCZa
— Den Draper (@marianne_franz) February 2, 2025
Before continuing on to Tijuana, the Learjet 55 was scheduled to make a brief stopover in Springfield, Missouri.
According to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials, the aircraft took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at approximately 18:07 local time (23:07 GMT) on Friday, reached 1,500 feet, made a tiny right turn, then a slight left turn, and then started a fast descent.
The collision happened 6.4 kilometres (less than four miles) distant. According to Mayor Parker, the plane was in the air “for only a minute” before it crashed, according to flight logs.
According to NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy, no problems were reported from the aircraft to air traffic control, and controllers who tried to contact the flight crew did not receive a response.
You need to take a break and stop posting just for clicks. These were real people who sadly died in a terrible accident. Pilots: Alan Montoya and Jose Juarez. Med staff: Rodrigo Padilla and Raul Meza. Passengers: A girl who just made it from cancer and her mom. I knew the Capt pic.twitter.com/ae9kVSRH6k
— La Verdad (@TheJudgeElJuez) February 1, 2025
Witnesses reported seeing burning debris fly into the streets and cars being damaged by shrapnel. Images of the aftermath reveal a big gash on the pavement and damaged, burned-out cars.
According to fire officials, the incident caused five different fires, all of which were confined and put out.
The Roosevelt Mall, a three-story shopping center in a heavily populated area of Philadelphia, the fifth-largest city in the United States, was only a few blocks away from the crash site.
There are many shops and terraced houses in the area. Following the crash, many residences lost power.
🇲🇽🇺🇸Philadelphia air crash victims/
Víctimas de accidentes aéreos de Filadelfia1. Young Mexican girl who received medical treatment in US
2. The girl’s mother
3. Pilot
Josué Juárez4. Pilot Alan Montoya
5. Rodrigo Padilla, paramedic
6 . Raúl Meza, neonatal doctor
🧵 pic.twitter.com/EDK8oVZZzg— ChicMik (@ChyMik) February 1, 2025