A small medical plane carrying six people crashed near a shopping center in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday night, apparently leaving no survivors and sending a large fireball into the air that engulfed vehicles and homes in flames, the authorities said.

The Learjet 55 was transporting a young female patient from Philadelphia, where she had been treated for a medical emergency, to her home in Mexico, said Shai Gold, a spokesman for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which owns the plane.

She was accompanied by her mother and the plane’s crew, consisting of two pilots, a doctor and a paramedic, Mr. Gold said. The patient had been treated at Shriners Children’s in Philadelphia, the hospital’s spokesman, Mel Bower, said in a statement.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said that all six people on the plane were Mexican nationals.

Several people injured in connection with the crash were taken to Temple Health, said Jennifer Reardon, a spokeswoman for the hospital. Three were released after treatment, and three others remained hospitalized, she said, without elaborating on whether they had been on the plane or on the ground.

The plane had a planned stop in Missouri for fuel before its final destination, Tijuana International Airport, Mr. Gold said. He added that he would not release any names until family members were notified.

Mr. Gold said that based on the intensity of the crash and the debris field, “We are doubtful that there are any survivors.”

The plane took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it crashed, the Federal Aviation Administration said. It crashed about three miles away about 6 p.m. near Cottman and Bustleton Avenues, across from the Roosevelt Mall, the local authorities said.

“Several dwellings and vehicles were impacted,” Mayor Cherelle Parker of Philadelphia said at a news conference.

She told residents not to touch anything that looked like debris and to stay inside if possible. Shelter was being provided for residents at Samuel Fels High School, about two miles from the crash site, she added.

It is unclear why the plane crashed. The jet plummeted to the ground within a minute of takeoff, according to Flightradar24, an aviation tracking website. Data broadcast by the plane indicated that at one point, it was descending at 11,000 feet per minute, according to the website.

An air traffic controller tried several times to communicate with the pilot after the jet took off but got no response, according to an audio transmission.

After a long silence, a controller said: “We have a lost aircraft. We’re not exactly sure what happened, so we’re trying to figure it out.”

Killiom Pontes, 38, a manager of a cellphone store less than a mile from the crash site, said that the impact had caused the windows of the business to shake.

“‘What the hell just happened?’” he recalled saying to himself. “At first, I thought it was an earthquake, but then we saw the big boom.”

Mr. Pontes said he drove to the scene, which he described as in a busy commercial area. He started streaming live video of flames and debris.

“I saw a big hole in the ground,” he said. “I was in shock how much debris there was.”

A spokeswoman for the Roosevelt Mall’s owner, Brixmor Property Group, said the plane had crashed in front of the shopping center.

“At this time, we’re not aware of any injuries or damage at the property, which has been evacuated,” the spokeswoman, Kristen Moore, said.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance conducts 600 to 700 flights a year and specializes in critical care patients, Mr. Gold said. In its 27 years of operation, it has had one other fatal episode, when five crew members died in November 2023, he said.

The authorities in Philadelphia said they had closed several roads near the shopping center, warning drivers to expect delays on surrounding roads.

The F.A.A. and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating. Members of both agencies were on their way to the scene on Friday night, officials said.

President Trump said in a post on social media on Friday night that his administration was tracking the developments.

“So sad to see the plane go down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” he wrote. “More innocent souls lost.”

Adeel Hassan contributed reporting, and Alain Delaquérière contributed research.



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