The cockpit voice recorder from the Learjet 55 medical transport that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia never recorded flight audio, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The jet crashed on January 31, killing all seven on board, including an 11-year-old pediatric patient and her mother. Another was killed, and at least two dozen others were injured on the ground. Officials said the recorder, or “black box,” likely had not worked for several years.
The jet was destined for the patient’s home in Tijuana, Mexico after a planned layover at Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF) in Missouri. The girl and her mother were returning home after a five-month stay at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia for a life-threatening illness.
According to the NTSB, after departing Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the plane proceeded southwest, reaching an altitude of 1,650 feet mean sea level when tracking data for the flight ended around 6:00 p.m. The entire flight lasted approximately one minute before the jet plummeted to the ground. According to the report, the flight crew communicated with air traffic control, and no distress calls were made.
Numerous videos showed the plane crashing to the ground and erupting into a massive explosion in a residential and commercial area three miles from the airport. Wreckage spread thousands of feet, destroying or significantly damaging more than a dozen homes and businesses with debris and fire.
The cockpit voice recorder was damaged significantly in the initial impact crater under 8 feet of soil and debris. Investigators at the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, D.C. determined that it had not recorded the flight and likely had not recorded audio for several years.
The plane was also equipped with an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), which may contain flight data in its nonvolatile memory. The manufacturer is currently evaluating whether any relevant flight data can be recovered.
Both pilots were licensed to operate a Learjet 55, experienced, and also held medical certificates from Mexico’s Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. The crash was among a series of recent aviation disasters. It occurred just two days after an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair in Washington, D.C.
Both crashes remain under investigation.
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