6 people on board plane that crashed in Philadelphia, engulfing homes in flames
A medical ambulance plane transporting a young girl who had just received life-saving treatment crashed on a street Friday night near the Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the global ambulance flight company operating the plane, said it’s Learjet 55 crashed while departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at about 6:30 p.m.
The company said there were four crew members and two passengers on the plane at the time – a pilot, copilot, physician, paramedic, pediatric patient and her mother. They were all Mexican nationals.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the number of crew members and passengers.
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Air Ambulance spokesperson Shai Gold told Fox News Digital the patient was a Mexican national who was in the U.S. for life-saving medical treatment. At the end of treatment, she was released to go home.
The plane was scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Tijuana International Airport, with one technical stop in Springfield, Missouri for fuel, according to Gold.
The FAA confirmed the plane was on its way to Missouri at the time of the crash.
The company could not confirm the identities or ages of anyone onboard until family is notified, but said it is unlikely there are survivors.
“The plane was loaded with jet fuel that’s highly flammable,” Gold said. “There is no indication that anybody survived, and by the debris field, I would be pleasantly surprised to learn otherwise.”
Air Ambulance is a Mexican-registered company that is licensed in Mexico and Florida, according to Gold. The aircraft was licensed, insured and accredited, he said.
“[There was] a very seasoned pilot [and a] very seasoned co-pilot,” Gold said. “They know the job, and they do it many times. We fly 600 to 700 missions a year. We are very busy, very active, and we keep top-notch staff.”
The same service helped transport Boston Red Sox star and MLB Hall of Famer David Ortiz in 2019 after he was shot at a bar in the Dominican Republic. Ortiz, who was severely wounded, survived emergency surgery.
The aircraft that went down was based out of the company’s headquarters in Mexico and Toluca International Airport, Gold confirmed.
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A senior Philadelphia fire official tells Fox News the fires that were sparked by the crash are “now under control.”
The official said when the plane went down, it sprayed jet fuel, soaking nearby row homes. The homes then went up in flames. The fire official tells Fox News six houses and six cars caught on fire.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to react to the tragedy.
“So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More innocent souls lost. Our people are totally engaged,” Trump wrote. “First Responders are already being given credit for doing a great job. More to follow. God Bless you all.”
Vice President JD Vance later took to X, calling the situation “very sad.”
“May God bless the victims and their families,” Vance wrote.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that he briefed Trump and other officials on the disaster.
“Just briefed the President and @GovernorShapiro from FAA HQ. I offered the full support of the @USDOT to the Governor and local officials,” Duffy wrote. “Investigators are on site.”
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker at a press conference Friday night said she was unable to confirm the number of fatalities and asked for prayers.
“We know there will be loss in this region,” Parker said.
Earlier, she advised locals not to touch anything and call 911 if they come across debris.
A medical oxygen tank donning the name of the transport company was seen on the ground outside a McDonald’s near the scene of the crash. A police commander told FOX 29’s Steve Keeley that there were “pieces everywhere.”
The City of Philadelphia posted on X, calling the incident “major.”
“Major incident near Cottman and Bustleton Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia across from Roosevelt Mall,” according to the post. “Roads closed in area including parts of Roosevelt Boulevard. Avoid area.”
City officials confirmed 45 state troopers are on the ground assisting.
A video shows the plane loudly crashing in the distance, with a burst of light covering the area.
Gov. Josh Shapiro posted on X, noting he was in communication with the mayor, police and fire departments.
“We are offering all Commonwealth resources as they respond to the small private plane crash in Northeast Philly,” Shapiro wrote. “We’ll continue to provide updates as more information is available.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation and the FAA will assist.
An NTSB investigator arrived on scene Friday night and additional team members will arrive Saturday, the agency wrote in a post on X.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Philadelphia said it was also on site investigating.
The Philadelphia Eagles, who will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, posted to X late Friday extending their condolences.
“The Eagles organization was heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss of life earlier this evening as a result of the plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia,” the organization wrote in the post. “We extend our condolences to the victims and loved ones they leave behind. We are grateful to the first responders for their heroic actions at the scene.”
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The crash comes just days after an American Airlines passenger plane collided midair with an Army Black Hawk Helicopter near Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people.
Audio from an air traffic control tower at Northeast Philadelphia Airport reveals the horrific moments before a medical ambulance plane crashed in Philadelphia Friday night while transporting a pediatric patient.
The audio, obtained by Fox News Digital, was recorded moments before the plane took off. Operators can be heard speaking as they desperately tried to make contact with the Learjet 55 before it crashed.
“What’s going on down there?” one air traffic controller can be heard saying.
“We have a lost aircraft. We’re not exactly sure what happened. So, we’re trying to figure it out,” replies another air traffic controller. “The field is going to be closed so no inbounds-outbounds.”
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Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, the company operating the plane, said the aircraft was a Learjet 55 while departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport around 6:30 p.m.
The company said there were four crew members and two passengers on the plane at the time – a pilot, copilot, physician, paramedic, pediatric patient and her mother. They were all Mexican nationals.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed there were six people on the plane. The agency said the plane was heading to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.
Air Ambulance spokesperson Shai Gold told Fox News Digital the patient was a Mexican national who was in the U.S. for life-saving medical treatment. At the end of treatment, she was released to go home.
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John Anderson, a retired pilot from Philadelphia, told Fox News Digital that, based on the video of the crash and the way the aircraft struck the ground, the likely cause 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 said.
He further 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 said. “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.”
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Friday night’s disaster comes just barely 48 hours after a deadly collision between an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport that resulted in the deaths of 67 people.
DOJ directs FBI to fire 8 top officials, identify employees involved in Jan. 6, Hamas cases
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo to the acting FBI director Friday evening directing him to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to Jan. 6 and Hamas cases for an internal review, Fox News has learned.
Bove’s memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, which was obtained by Fox News, asserts the Department of Justice cannot trust the FBI employees to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The subject of the memo is “Terminations.”
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“This memorandum sets forth a series of directives, authorized by the Acting Attorney General, regarding personnel matters to be addressed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Bove wrote.
Bove, a former Trump defense attorney, directed Driscoll to fire eight specific FBI employees by Monday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m.
“I do not believe that the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove wrote in the memo.
Bove cited comments made by President Trump on his first day back in office, in which Trump accused the Biden administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies of going after Biden’s political adversaries.
“The American people have witnessed the previous administration engage in a systemic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions,” Bove’s memo noted. “This includes the FBI.”
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Bove said the FBI’s “prior leadership actively participated in what President Trump appropriately described as ‘a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years’ with respect to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The weaponization of the FBI’s security clearance process is similarly troubling,” Bove continued. “So too are issues relating to the FBI’s reticence to address instructions and requests from, among other places, the Justice Department.”
Bove said the problems “are symptomatic of deficiencies in previous leadership that must now be addressed.”
Bove wrote that he “deem[s] these terminations necessary, pursuant to President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order, entitled ‘Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government’ in order to continue the process of restoring a culture of integrity, credibility, accountability, and responsiveness to the leadership and directives of President Trump and the Justice Department.”
Beyond the terminations of the eight employees, Bove directed Driscoll to identify by noon Tuesday, Feb. 4, “all current and former FBI personnel assigned at any time to investigations and/or prosecutions” relating to “the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021” and United States v. Haniyeh, a terrorism case against six Hamas leaders charged with planning and carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel.
The defendants in that case include Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, high-level Hamas leaders believed to have been assassinated in 2024 by Israeli operatives.
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Bove ordered that the lists of employees Driscoll should compile “should include relevant supervisory personnel in FBI regional offices and field divisions, as well as at FBI headquarters.”
“For each employee included in the list, provide the current title, office to which the person is assigned, role in the investigation or prosecution, and date of last activity relating to the investigation or prosecution,” Bove directed. “Upon timely receipt of the requested information, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General will commence a review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”
Fox News also obtained the letter Driscoll sent to bureau employees Friday evening after receiving Bove’s memo. In it, Driscoll notified employees he was directed to fire the specific employees Bove identified “unless these employees have retired beforehand.”
“I have been personally in touch with each of these impacted employees,” Driscoll wrote.
As for the directive to compile a list of FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 and Hamas cases, Driscoll said that request “encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts.”
“I am one of those employees, as is acting Deputy Director Kissane,” Driscoll wrote. “As we’ve said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what’s in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always.
“We will be back in touch with more information as soon as we can. In the meantime, stay safe, and take care of each other.”
The FBI declined to comment on any personnel matters, including names, titles or numbers.
The DOJ directive comes after Acting Attorney General James McHenry earlier this week fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting Trump. Fox News Digital exclusively reported the action Monday.
A DOJ official Monday used similar language to that seen in Bove’s letter, telling Fox News Digital McHenry “does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”
The directive also comes a day after Fox News Digital exclusively reported that whistleblower emails were shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, revealing that a former FBI agent, Timothy Thibault, allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Donald Trump to the probe without sufficient predication.
Bove’s memo also comes a day after President Trump’s nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel, testified during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trump and allies have maintained the law enforcement agency was weaponized against him and conservatives across the nation.
The House Judiciary Committee, for months, investigated the FBI for the creation of a memo targeting Catholics and parents at school board meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump on Friday evening denied any involvement in the DOJ directive.
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“We have some very bad people over there,” Trump said Friday. “They came after a lot of people like me, but they came after a lot of people. No, I wasn’t involved in that.
“I’ll have to see what is exactly going on after this is finished,” he added. “But if they fired some people over there, that’s a good thing, because they were very bad. They were very corrupt people, very corrupt, and they hurt our country very badly with the weaponization. They used, they used the Justice Department to go after their political opponent, which in itself is illegal. And obviously it didn’t work.”
DC air traffic controller reportedly left work early before deadly midair collision
The responsibility of handling air traffic control for helicopters and incoming planes at Reagan National Airport were combined on Wednesday night ahead of a deadly collision, a report said.
Sometime before an American Airlines flight crashed into an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, an air traffic controller was assigned both duties by their supervisor, the New York Times reported, citing a source briefed on staffing and an internal preliminary FAA safety report.
Usually, the duties of handling helicopter traffic and managing planes are divided from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the airport, the Times reported. After 9:30 p.m., when traffic slows down, those duties may be combined.
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However, on Wednesday, an air traffic control supervisor combined those duties sometime before 9:30 p.m. and allowed one air traffic controller to leave the job early, the Times reported.
The FAA preliminary safety report found that staffing at the airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” The Associated Press reported.
The FAA did not answer questions about the reports that an air traffic controller left early.
“Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has 25 Certified Professional Controllers and three Certified Professional Controllers in Training (CPC-ITs). CPC-ITs were previously fully certified at other facilities. The tower is authorized to have 28 controllers,” and FAA spokesperson said.
Despite the report saying the staffing was “not normal,” a person familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that staffing in the control tower at DCA on Wednesday night was at a normal level.
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The person explained that the positions get combined regularly if air controllers have to step away from the console for breaks, or if they are involved in a shift change. Controllers may also have to step away when air traffic is slow, the person explained, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.
Supervisors have the ability to combine roles, which was the case on Wednesday night, though the person familiar with the matter could not say why. When asked about the air traffic and previous reports of it being heavy on Wednesday night, the source said it was moderate.
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The air control tower at Reagan National has been understaffed for years with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023. However, staffing targets set by the FAA and the controllers’ union call for 30.
The cause of the shortage has been attributed to employee turnover and other factors like tight budgets, and ultimately, it has resulted in many controllers working 10-hour days and as many as six days a week, the New York Times reported.
Top Trump official secures freedom for 6 Americans after meeting with socialist dictator
Following a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas to discuss, in part, the release of Americans being held in the country, Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions announced on X Friday night that he was returning to the U.S. with six of them.
“They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him,” Grenell said in his post without identifying the six men, four of whom were dressed in light-blue Venezuelan prison outfits.
It’s been reported that at least nine Americans have been held by Venezuela where Maduro’s officials have accused most of them of being involved in terrorism or acting as “mercenaries.”
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On a call earlier on Friday with reporters, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy on Latin America, said that “American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally.”
But he added that “this is not a quid pro quo. It’s not a negotiation in exchange for anything. Trump himself has made that very clear.”
The Venezuelan government said in a statement that the meeting between Maduro and Grenell at the presidential palace “took place with mutual respect and diverse issues of interest to both countries were discussed,” including about migration, sanctions and detained Americans, as Reuters reported.
Less than a month ago, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term as Venezuela’s president. However, the U.S. government does not recognize him as the country’s legitimate head of state and instead believes that Edmundo González, the opposition coalition candidate, won the recent election by more than a two-to-one margin.
At the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said that he is “a very big opponent of Venezuela and Maduro.”
“They’ve treated us not so good. But they’ve treated, more importantly, the Venezuelan people very badly.”
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Grenell’s hours-long Friday visit to Venezuela was also intended to compel Maduro to accept the return of some 400 members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, which the country’s attorney general, Tarek Saab, has said was dismantled in 2023.
The deportations need to occur “without conditions” and was “non-negotiable,” said Claver-Carone.
Reese Witherspoon says A-list actress ‘doesn’t talk to me’ after awards ceremony snafu
Reese Witherspoon is still “haunted” by a speech she made years ago.
In a new interview, Witherspoon, who is promoting her new film, “You’re Cordially Invited,” with Will Ferrell, recalled a time she accidentally roasted an A-list actress during an award ceremony.
“It literally haunts me,” the actress told People magazine. “So, this friend of mine, who I didn’t really know that well, but she was a very serious, proper actress. She asked me to give her an award. But I had never been to this award ceremony, so I thought it was like a roast. So, I got up and I roasted her.”
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Witherspoon, who told the outlet the event was “British,” “elegant” and “classy,” revealed the jokes didn’t land that night.
“I was like, ‘Remember the time we got laser hair removal?’” added Witherspoon. “I’m still embarrassed about it.
“We’re not friends anymore,” Witherspoon said of the actress, whom she did not name. “I’m not even kidding — we’re not friends anymore. I think she doesn’t like me anymore. I thought it was so funny, and it was just, I had the wrong audience. It was pretty bad. Yeah. Not even kidding. She doesn’t talk to me anymore. Oh well.”
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While the “Sweet Home Alabama” actress didn’t name the A-list star, the internet was quick to draw conclusions.
According to Just Jared, Witherspoon presented Kate Winslet with the artist of the year award at the 2007 BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards.
“I always wanted to be a European movie star, wear giant sunglasses, elaborate neck scarves, smoke hand-rolled cigarettes and have savior faire and gravitas,” Witherspoon reportedly said during her speech.
“Imagine my good fortune when Kate Winslet moved into my neighborhood, rang my doorbell and said, ‘Darling, Sam [Mendes] is off shooting, and I believe our children are the same age. Could they possibly have a play date and, oh, by the way, it’s almost 9 o’clock, and I’ve had nothing to do drink. Do you have any wine?'”
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Witherspoon said there were stories she couldn’t mention because they were “too bawdy or tawdy or drunken to tell,” including the time they “contemplated laser hair removal.”
Despite the awkward situation, the two not only presented together, but embraced backstage at the 2016 Oscars.
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Representatives for Witherspoon and Winslet did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump threatens towering 100% tariff against slew of countries
In an apparent bid to preserve the U.S. dollar’s global economic dominance, President Donald Trump reiterated his 100% tariff threat against BRICS nations.
The president is demanding that the countries commit to not form a BRICS currency or endorse a currency to supplant U.S. dollar hegemony.
“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar, while we stand by and watch, is OVER,” Trump warned in a Truth Social post on Thursday.
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BRICS is an acronym that refers to the nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, though the bloc also includes several other countries, as well.
“We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump continued.
“They can go find another sucker Nation. There is no chance that BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any Country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America!” he concluded.
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Trump, who took office again last week, had issued a nearly identical threat on social media in November.
Euro Pacific Asset Managment chief economist and global strategist Peter Schiff, who discusses economic and political topics on his eponymous podcast “The Peter Schiff Show,” pushed back against Trump’s comment last year.
“You have the relationship backwards. The BRICS nations are the suckers for accepting our fiat currency for their real consumer goods. We get actual products that make our lives better, that we lack the capacity to produce ourselves. All they get in return is our inflation,” Schiff tweeted in December in response to Trump’s November post threatening BRICS countries.
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Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia are also members of the bloc, according to Reuters.
Brazil, which holds the BRICS presidency this year, has suggested that Saudi Arabia is a BRICS member, but Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim recently told Bloomberg Television that while the nation has been invited into BRICS, it is assessing before making a decision.
Players ejected and legendary coach smashes clipboard in wild college basketball game
Tempers flared during Thursday’s highly anticipated Top-25 women’s college basketball matchup between the one-loss LSU Tigers and the Oklahoma Sooners.
The game featured players shoving — which led to ejections — coach’s technical fouls and a noticeable clipboard-slapping moment from LSU coach Kim Mulkey. LSU forward Sa’Myah Smith and Oklahoma forward Liz Scott were both tossed from the game after the shoving incident in the first quarter.
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Oklahoma center Beatrice Culliton was battling for position in the paint with Smith when the two got tangled up. Culliton elevated her arm to create some separation, and Smith retaliated by pushing her to the ground. Scott, who was also in the paint area, responded by shoving Smith.
Smith was corralled by Joe Schwartz, LSU’s assistant of basketball operations. The teams separated and went back to their bench areas. The normally even-keeled Smith was called for a foul on the play and then ejected following a review.
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“Pushing, I guess, is considered fighting,” Mulkey said. “It (Smith’s reaction) was shocking. It hurt our team with her not being a part of tonight, because we’re trying to develop her. My old mentor (former Louisiana Tech coach), Leon Barmore, always said you’ve got to keep a cool head in a hot game. . . . Never let ’em see you sweat.”
Mulkey also gave a nod to the game’s entertainment value: “I guess it was entertaining for the fans.”
Play resumed after the ejections, with Oklahoma leading 12-11. The Sooners took advantage of the 6-foot-2 Smith’s advantage to keep it close, rallying from a 24-point deficit late in the third quarter to get within one point in the final minute.
In the third quarter, Mulkey slapped a clipboard that assistant coach Seimone Augustus was holding. LSU was enjoying a 67-45 lead at the time. Mulkey proceeded to yell and point for several seconds, while Augustus appeared to contend with a brief moment of shock.
Referees later assessed a technical foul after the Tigers’ coach argued a foul call against star guard Flau’Jae Johnson. Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk also received a technical at a different point in the game.
The chippy game ended with a total of five technical fouls and 63 free throw attempts.
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“We saw a lot of things tonight,” Mulkey said. “You saw ejections. You saw two teams score over 100. You saw a technical on the second flop. . . . I got teed up, and she told me I got teed up for pointing at the big screen. I was definitely looking at the big screen, and I was not real happy, but I don’t know if I point. But she’s across the way. Whatever.”
The Tigers’ 107-100 win over the Sooners improved seventh-ranked LSU’s record to 22-1.
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