Terrifying footage shows medical plane darting into ground ‘like a missile’

This is the moment a medical plane carrying six people including a sick child crashed onto a residential street in Philadelphia.

Dash cam footage shows the plane nose diving to the ground near Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday before bursting into a huge ball of flames.

Thick black smoke can be seen rising as stunned drivers get out of their vehicles to stare towards the scene.

Michael Schiavone, 37, was sitting at his home in Mayfair, Philadelphia, when he heard a loud bang and his house shook.

‘There was a large explosion, so I thought we were under attack for a second,’ he said.

The plane crashed into a row of residential homes, swallowing a number of properties in flames and burning out vehicles.

Images show burning houses as firefighters work to tackle the blazes as debris litters the streets.

Doorbell footage shows two people leaving their home as the plane explodes.

A white orbs can be seen picking up speed before a bright light fills the sky, and the witnesses scream in terror as they rushed back inside.

Jet Rescue Airlines confirmed a sick girl who was flying home after life saving treatment at Shriners Children’s Hospital was on board.

They said: ‘She did her course of care. She was going home. She fought quite a lot to survive, and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home.”

The child’s mother was also on board along with four crew. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operated the Learjet 55, said the patient was being flown home to Mexico.

A spokesperson added: ‘We cannot confirm any survivors.’

It comes just two days after an American Airlines passenger jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington DC, leaving no survivors.

The plane took off just after 6pm ET and reached 1,650 feet before plummeting, according to data from ADS-B Exchange.

The data shows the final speed of descent was 11,000 feet per minute.

Witnesses said the aircraft’s rapid descent looked more like a missile.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said at a news conference late Friday that officials expected fatalities in the ‘awful aviation disaster’.

‘We know that there will be loss,’ he said.

Shai Gold, who works on corporate strategy with Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, told CNN: ‘We are terribly shocked by this tragic turn of events.

‘This was a very seasoned crew. We are a leading air ambulance company. We fly 600 to 700 times a year.’

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker told a press conference at the scene that several houses and cars had been engulfed in flames.

She said the situation is ‘all hands on deck, that’s where we are right now’.

Officials said it was not clear what led to the crash. The weather was cold and rainy and with low visibility when the plane went down.

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