The cockpit voice recorder on the medical jet that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia in late January was not capturing audio that night and likely had not been recording during flights for several years, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Thursday.
The NTSB's early investigation into the Jan. 31 crash revealed little about what caused the Learjet 55 to go down seconds after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The jet slammed into a sidewalk on Cottman Avenue near Roosevelt Boulevard, killing all six people on board and a seventh person who was in a car near the impact site. Another 24 people on the ground were injured. The crash caused a fiery explosion that damaged nearby homes and scattered debris as many as six blocks away, authorities said.
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The cockpit voice recorder was found under soil and debris in an 8-foot-deep crater where the jet went down. The recorder was significantly damaged in the crash and had been exposed to liquid, NTSB investigators said. It was sent to one of the agency's labs in Washington to be repaired and cleaned, but tests found no audio from the flight in January or others going back "several years." The NTSB did not say whether audio data of any kind could be recovered from the device.
NTSB releases an image of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Learjet 55 that crashed on Jan. 31 in Philadelphia. The CVR was located at the site of initial impact, at a depth of 8 feet. pic.twitter.com/Il12C50KI1
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) February 4, 2025
The jet's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, a computer that records flight data, also was recovered from the crash site. It was sent to the manufacturer to determine whether any relevant information can be recovered. That evaluation remains ongoing, the report said.
The Learjet 55 was owned by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a Mexico City-based transport company that provides critical care ambulance services between Latin America and the United States. The six people who were on the plane, all from Mexico, included 11-year-old Valentina Guzmán Murillo and her mother, 31-year-old Lizeth Murillo Osuna. The girl had just completed four months of treatment at Shriners Children's Philadelphia and was preparing to return to Mexico.
The jet's four-person flight crew consisted of pilot Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez, paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla and Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, authorities said.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the findings in the NTSB's preliminary report.
On the night of the crash, the jet was scheduled to make a stop at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri before traveling to Mexico. Shortly after taking off in Philadelphia, the flight crew had a brief and seemingly normal interaction with air traffic controllers before going silent, investigators said. The flight crew did not make any distress calls.
The jet reached an altitude of about 1,650 feet before taking a sharp left turn and then nosediving into the densely populated area about three miles from the airport, investigators said.
The pilot on the jet held required certifications for medical transport and had accumulated more than 9,200 hours of flight experience. The co-pilot also was certified and had more than 2,600 hours of flight experience. Both were credentialed to operate a Learjet 55.
One week after the crash, 37-year-old Stephen Dreuitt was identified as the man on the ground who was killed in his car. Dreuitt's 9-year-old son survived, but remains hospitalized as he recovers from severe burns.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker called the crash the "worst black swan event" the city has encountered in years. A relief fund was set up for survivors impacted by the crash and other resources have been made available to businesses and homeowners located near the crash site.
"We are committed to supporting those who were injured and residents and businesses affected by this tragic event," Parker said Thursday after the NTSB report was released.
The NTSB is required to produce a preliminary investigation report on crashes and other disasters before providing conclusions on causes, typically within two years after incidents occur.
The full report can be read below.
