Investigators find cockpit voice recorder of plane that crashed in Philly and killed 7; search for other evidence could take weeks; town hall planned

A sense of uneasiness and disarray hung over a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood Sunday, two days after an airplane plummeted into a busy street, killing at least seven people, injuring 22 others, and spewing wreckage for blocks.

In the densely populated residential area, 11 homes and an untold number of businesses were damaged. Churches were closed Sunday; so was the nearby mall. Buses were diverted, and people were trapped in their rowhouses, some in too much despair to leave their blocks.

The NTSB said Sunday night that investigators have recovered the jet's cockpit voice recorder. The black-box was found at the site of the initial impact, down about 8 feet, the agency said.

Investigators also recovered the plane's enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), which could also contain flight data, the NTSB said. The materials will be sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

All Philadelphia schools will operate on a normal schedule Monday — three days after a deadly plane crash in the Northeast killed seven people — but Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said anyone delayed by street closures or SEPTA changes prompted by the ongoing investigation will have an excused lateness.

“Students and staff who saw the tragedy unfold may feel afraid and upset,” Watlington wrote in a letter sent to district families and staff Sunday. “To help support the emotional needs and well being of our students and staff, the Office of Prevention and intervention will be working alongside school counselors for students who may wish to talk to someone. In addition, we encourage you to speak with your child(ren) so that they may share with you any feelings that they may be experiencing in the days ahead.”

Andrè Gary, 30, had just left the Second Street thrift store when he heard the crash. He ducked for cover, afraid of falling debris.

"I really thought the world was ending," said Gary, who grew up nearby. "It really just fell out of the sky,"

Keisha Lopez has not been able to process what happened in Northeast Philadelphia Friday night. Upon learning a passenger in the plane was a little girl, she and her sister took it upon themselves to set up a memorial at Cottman and Bustleton Avenues.

Lighting seven candles, one for each life confirmed lost during the accident, the sisters tied pink and white star balloons to a pole on the corner. The last touch, a home-printed Mexican flag.

The company behind the medical jet that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia is asking for the public's help in locating the plane's cockpit voice recorder — the device that records radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilot's voices and engine noises. It is essential to the investigation in what caused the crash, authorities said.

The recording box is still missing, said Shai Gold, a spokesperson for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. He provided a photo of what the box would look like, and asked residents near the crash site to keep an eye out for it.

The crew members aboard the medical jet that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday have been identified as four men who have worked with the Jet Rescue Air Ambulance for multiple years, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Alan Montoya Perales, 46, had been flying with Jet Rescue since 2016, and was the captain of the flight that crashed Friday, company spokesman Shai Gold said. His copilot was Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, 43, who joined the company in December 2023, Gold said.

Representatives from the city’s Department of Commerce were working in the neighborhood through the weekend to provide support to impacted businesses, including damage assessments and connections to emergency relief programs, city officials said.

But Salim Wilson, senior director of Commercial Corridor Improvements in the Commerce Department, said “many” businesses in the immediate area of the crash scene remained closed Sunday as the investigation continued.

After three days of not being able to leave the secure zone near the crash site by car, Mitchell Flitter was going stir-crazy in his home near Leonard Street.

“I just couldn’t get out. It was all tension, but now it’s getting back to normal,” Flitter said.

City officials on Sunday could not specify how many people were displaced or remain missing as a result of the plane crash, saying the scene is still being processed.

“It is possible there are still people who were affected by this event that we don’t know about,” Managing Director Adam Thiel said. He added that 11 homes were damaged as a result of the incident.

Philadelphia police hope to have all lanes of Roosevelt Boulevard open by Monday morning, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.

Bethel added that as the investigation into the crash continues, vehicles parked in the area will be allowed to move "over the next couple days."

The city will host a town hall meeting for residents in the impacted area on Wednesday at 7 p.m., Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said Sunday.

She said a location is to be determined.

No School District of Philadelphia schools will be closed tomorrow as a result of the plane crash, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said Sunday. She said students or staff who face delays due to the incident will be excused.

She said the city is also not aware of any charter schools closing because of the crash.

Five people remain hospitalized after the deadly plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia Friday night, and three of them are in critical condition, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said Sunday.

At least 22 people were injured as a result of the crash, Parker said. Those are in addition to seven people who died – six passengers on the plane and one person who was in a vehicle on the ground.

Roosevelt Mall will remain closed through Monday, according to the owner, Brixmor Property Group.

“The property is still being accessed by the local, state, federal agencies,” said Kristen Moore, a spokesperson for Brixmor.

Raúl Vasquez and his 12-year-old grandson, Marlon, walked down Vincent Street carrying four light bags Sunday. It was their first grocery trip since a medical emergency plane crashed on Cottman Avenue.

“We were right on the corner when it happened. It was all too fast, the boom, and then the flames,” Marlon said. “I was so scare I couldn’t stop shaking.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said its main warning system for pilots is back up after being down for several hours.

“The NOTAM system is online and operational,” the FAA said in a statement Sunday morning.

Elizabeth Rodriguez lives two blocks away from the plane crash's secured perimeter, but her attention is on her family living behind the barricade.

“They have two kids inside, at least their power is back,” Rodriguez said standing on the corner of Calvert Street hoping to ask officers some questions, but prevented by a language barrier.

Calvary Memorial Church has been closed to parishioners since a plane came down on Cottman Avenue Friday night. But its doors remain open for law enforcement.

“We have just been coming to make coffee for the officers and letting them use the facilities,” a 70-year-old church member who declined to be named said Sunday morning, as he worked on making their first pot of coffee of the day.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s main warning system for pilots, remains down Sunday morning.

“The primary NOTAM system is experiencing a temporary outage, but there is currently no impact to the National Airspace System because a backup system is in place,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on social media late Saturday night.

The girl who had just completed four months of treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia has been identified by the mayor of her hometown as 11-year-old Valentina Guzmán Murillo of Ensenada, a coastal city south of Tijuana, according to the New York Times. Her mother, Lizeth Murillo Osuna, was 31, said the Times.

Valentina had a spinal condition that caused her medical issues, a family friend told the Times. A spokesperson for Shriners would not disclose Valentina’s name or condition in an interview with The Inquirer Saturday but said her condition was not easily treated in Mexico.

An aerial view of the area near the site of the plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia that killed seven people Friday shows a gaping crater close to the entrance of Roosevelt Mall on Cottman Avenue as response personnel, some in blue work suits, attend to the damage.

The medical transport plane took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and crashed on Cottman Avenue near Roosevelt Boulevard, killing six Mexican nationals on board and one person who was in a car. A girl who had received crucial treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia — and left a profound impact on fellow patients and staff there — was on board the plane with her mother, traveling back to her home country.

Something catastrophic had to happen for the pilots of a Learjet 55 to lose control so soon after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport on Friday night, turning an air ambulance into a fuel-laden rocket that nose-dived into the ground near the Roosevelt Mall, aviation experts say.

Whatever went wrong, it was likely beyond human control.

The girl who was traveling home on the plane that crashed Friday in Northeast Philadelphia built unwavering connections with hospital staff and fellow patients during her approximately four months at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.

The patient was with her mother, flying home after receiving lifesaving treatment at the hospital. They, along with four other people aboard the medical transport plane that crashed near Roosevelt Mall, were returning to Mexico, her home country.

Ash, smoke, and a chemical smell rained on Elizabeth Griffin in the parking lot of a Northeast Philadelphia T-Mobile store on Friday night.

The 31-year-old had been in the store when she heard the boom.

That orange flash that electrified the sky over Northeast Philadelphia. The house-shaking explosion that followed. The dwellings that caught fire, and the cars that burst into flames. The power failures.

Understandably, on a foggy, rainy evening when “nothing seemed real,” some residents of one of the city’s densest neighborhoods wondered if they were under attack or were witnessing a conflagration.