The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) found in the fatal Jan. 31 medical jet crash in Northeast Philadelphia was not recording and likely hadn’t recorded audio for several years, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to the NTSB report, the plane also had an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System. The agency says the EGPWS computer is being evaluated by its manufacturer to see if any travel data can be recovered. That evaluation remains ongoing.
The crash killed all six people aboard the plane and one person on the ground. It also ignited several fires and sent others to hospitals.
The Learjet 55 was headed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport to Springfield, Missouri, when it suddenly made two slight turns at an altitude of about 1,500 feet before making a steep descent and crashing near the Roosevelt Mall.
The entire flight was less than one minute.
Grants are available for small businesses damaged in the crash. The grants max out at $20,000.
Crash killed 7 people, injured others including multiple children
Four crew members from Jet Rescue Air Ambulance were killed along with a pediatric patient 11-year-old Valentina Guzman Murillo, who had just wrapped up weeks of treatment at Shriner’s Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, and her mother Lizeth Murillo Ozuna.
The crewmembers were pilot Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, copilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla.
A man killed in a car on the ground that was heavily damaged in the crash was identified as 37-year-old Steven Dreuitt. His son, 9-year-old Ramesses, was sent to a Massachusetts hospital with burns on 90% of his body.
A man who was eating at the Raising Cane’s close to the crash scene, Caseem Wongus, sprang into action when he saw Ramesses emerge from the flames, wrapping the boy in his jacket and getting him over to first responders.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
