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Laura Coates Live
A Private Medevac Jet Crashes on Philadelphia Street; Investigation Is Underway Into Cause Of Deadly D.C. Crash. Aired 11p- 12a ET
Aired January 31, 2025 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. We start with the breaking news tonight. Chaotic, fiery scenes in Philadelphia. This after another plane crash, this time in a busy urban area. This one, a twin-engine business jet crashing into a major street near a mall. This all happened shortly after 6:00 this evening, shortly after the plane took off from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport. You can see the massive explosion that erupted right after that impact.
The FAA says that six people were on board and it was heading to Springfield-Branston National Airport in Missouri. Ring doorbell video captured the moment of the crash, showing the plane in a nose dive before slamming into the ground.
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UNKNOWN: She's dead. She's dead. She's dead. Stop, I think we need a little --
(SHOUTING)
(EXPLOSION)
COATES: The plane appears to be rotating as it was falling. It reached an altitude of about 1,600 feet before plunging, coming down at 11,000 feet per minute. The company operating the flight says one of the people on board was a pediatric patient. Air traffic control audio describes the jet as a medevac flight.
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UNKNOWN (voice-over): Medevac med service, northeast tower. Medevac med service 056, northeast tower, are you on frequency?
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Standby, one --
((BACKGROUND NOISE)
I'll get back to you when I can.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): We have a lost aircraft. We are not exactly sure what happened, so we are trying to figure it out. For now, the field is going to be closed, so no inbounds or outbounds probably.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: The mayor says that several homes and also cars were also impacted, but she didn't give any information about any possible fatalities on the ground. I want to bring in CNN's Jason Carroll, who is in Philadelphia. Jason, tell us what you are seeing there tonight on the ground.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, we are right at the intersection of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt. Behind me, just several blocks in that direction, is where the crash actually took place. And you can see just around just what kind of area we are in. There are a number of businesses in this particular area of Northeast Philadelphia, a number of homes in the area as well.
And when you think about when this happened, Laura, take in to account, this plane, this Learjet 55, took off from Philadelphia Northeast just a little after 6:00. That's rush hour. So, this area was teeming with people at that hour. So, you can imagine, a number of people saw what happened, a number of people heard what happened. You know, witnesses describe -- saying that the lights, that the sky here literally lit up when that jet crashed, when that small aircraft crashed, saying that it was a huge fireball moments after impact.
In addition to that, Philadelphia's mayor, as you were saying a little earlier, could not indicate at least at this point the number of fatalities, but what we can tell you is, again, there were six people on board. It was a medical aircraft headed to Springfield, Missouri. Of those six people, there were four crew members, two passengers. One of those passengers, a small child.
And so, again, this is an area, as you can see, that has been cordoned off. This is so all of those investigators that are here now -- we're talking the FAA, we're talking NTSB, in addition to Philly fire and police who are here on the scene as well. The area has been cordoned off so investigators can get to the task of doing what they need to do.
[23:05:01]
The debris has been spread over a wide area. And so what needs to happen next is these investigators, in addition to trying to find out what happened, is they got to come in here, pick up every single piece or as many pieces as they can of the aircraft, put it back together. And so, what they're asking residents to do is if they see any pieces of the aircraft, not to touch anything, to call 911 immediately so they can get out there and do what they need to do. But again, this is the area that has been cordoned off. You can see down there some of the emergency vehicle lights. A lot of work at this point still needs to be done. And again, take in to account where this happened in this section of Philadelphia. The Roosevelt Mall right there, the Ross store right over there, a number of buildings here impacted on the ground as well, according to the mayor. Mayor and officials here on the ground, Laura, also at this point -- cannot confirm at this point the number of fatalities. Laura?
COATES: To think of that happening at rush hour in a populated area like that. Jason, we're going to rely on you to be our eyes and ears on the ground. Thank you. Stay with us.
I want to bring in Shai Gold, managing director for corporate strategy for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. That's the company operating the flight. Shai, unbelievable to see these images this evening. What can you tell us about what you think happened to this flight?
SHAI GOLD, MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR CORPORATE STRATEGY, JET RESCUE AIR AMBULANCE: Hey, Laura. Thanks for having me on board. Terrible tragedy, clearly. Our condolences go to the families, both the patient, her mother who escorted her, our crew of four pilot, co- pilot, and a flight paramedic.
At this time, we can speculate. We really don't know what happened. It's highly unusual for a plane to take off and crash right away. We simply don't know. We will have to wait patiently for this accident scene to be cleared, for the NTSB to step in. We will cooperate fully with the authorities. Anything they need, we'll make available. This aircraft has an excellent maintenance record. It's a very reliable airplane that has been used before.
COATES: Shai, I think our hearts collectively broke when you said the patient's mother was also with her. I know there were six people, including that child and, apparently, her mother on board as well. What can you tell us about the nature of the flight, where they were going, why they were going? Any information, do you have?
GOLD: Yes, I'll gladly share with you what we do have. So, this flight was a repatriation flight of a patient who recovered and was headed home. She was fit to fly, clear to go back home, and we were contracted by a third-party charitable organization to transport her back to Mexico. So, the final destination was to be Tijuana International Airport. The flight at the Springfield Airport was what we call in the business a technical flight. It was for fueling, refueling, and then we had straight south to Tijuana.
COATES: Why was she seeking treatment? Do you know? Was this a routine for her to be repatriated and she'd been cleared to fly? How long had it taken for her to be cleared? Do you know?
GOLD: Well, unfortunately, we are not deliberately at liberty to discuss patient issues, particularly pediatric patients. It's governed by very clear, strict regulation. So, I can't help you on that.
But to us, it was a routine flight that -- look, every flight at any aviation carrier is approached with utmost care and attention to details. I can tell you that this was a very seasoned crew, pilot and co-pilot, doctor, paramedic. Our safety training exceeds industry standards. It exceeds regulatory requirements. We are a leading air ambulance company. We fly six to 700 times a year with critically ill or injured patients. And by all accounts in the industry, we are well regarded. And it's just an unfortunate, unfortunate turn of events.
COATES: Four crew members on board. You said a pilot, co-pilot, a paramedic, and a doctor also on board. This is an excellent maintenance record as well. Do you have a sense of when this plane had recently been maintained? How are you aware of the record?
GOLD: Well, this -- all our aircraft are maintained both by regular scheduled maintenance, which is by the book, by manufacture requirements, as well as -- occasionally, you know, we say when a red light goes off in the cockpit, that plane goes lower.
[23:10:06]
So, it's handled by international American standards. It is a Learjet. So, we go by the book. This aircraft was in excellent condition, well maintained like the rest of our fleet. And I can tell you that when it comes to safety and maintenance, we are absolutely nuts. We don't save a penny on those things. We invest heavily in maintenance. Everything was up to speed. Everything was within standards. So, we are terribly shocked by this tragic turn of events tonight.
COATES: As you mentioned, this is a Learjet 55. I believe -- is it -- this would be equipped with any type of flight data recorder of any kind?
GOLD: Well, the 55 belongs to the mid-range family of Learjets. It's on the extended range side. Whatever data has been recorded should be retrieved by the NTSB. We really don't know what happened, you know, and we rely on NTSB to figure this out. They are professionals in what they do. And we'll just have to sit patiently and wait, clear this accident scene, and for the NTSB team to move in.
COATES: I certainly appreciate not making any premature conclusions. The tragedy is unfolding. We're learning about those who are on board that aircraft. And I appreciate you taking the time to explain a little bit about the fleet and what you know presently about the maintenance and the shock certainly that you have conveyed, that this has happened, among one of the 600 to 700 flights that have taken place by your organization this -- in the year alone. Thank you so much for joining. Please keep us apprised of whatever it is you might find out.
GOLD: Thank you, Laura. And our hearts go to the city of Philadelphia. We thank the first responders, we thank everybody on the ground, and our hearts go out to anybody that may have been hurt on the ground. I don't have a full picture yet, just -- you know, God bless everyone. Thank you so much for your interest.
COATES: Shai, before I let you, are you -- have you been contacted yet by the NTSB or any other organization to have you help with the investigation?
GOLD: Personally, I haven't been contacted. We expect to be contacted by them.
COATES: And I would assume you'd be willing to help. Thank you so much for joining.
GOLD: Good night.
COATES: I want to bring in a former pilot and aviation expert, Steve Cowell. Steve, these events that are unfolding very quickly, we fare still getting information, we are reeling from the shock of this. You have flown medevac flights on Learjets, I understand. The same model, frankly, as the one that seems to have crashed. Based on your experience, when you see that video, can you walk us through what you're looking at and for?
STEVE COWELL, FORMER PILOT, AVIATION SAFETY EXPERT: Well, just horrific. It's hard to describe really what took place and to see an aircraft virtually plummet straight down. The Learjet is a very reliable, although older aircraft. It was -- its use in medevac is really very, very common throughout the country. The airplane flies well. It will cruise in airliner speeds about eight-tenths the speed of sound. It will even be able to exceed airliner altitudes, going up to altitudes in the 50,000-foot range at times. It is extremely reliable, very responsive to fly. It's very, very difficult to say what may have created this horrific accident.
COATES: You know, I know that people look at especially smaller aircrafts, think about the balance of weight. Is an EMS crew or a medevac type of flight, is it somehow substantively different from the preparations you would make on a normal passenger aircraft?
COWELL: Well, it's not really that small of an airplane. It's a 21,000 pound or so aircraft. So, it is fairly large. Typically, what a medevac crew will do is, they're on station on an airport. Every single day, they will do the pre-flight inspection. And I'll note, anything that may be wrong, there are usually on call at that airport. Once they get the call to make the flight, you know, one of the crew members will do the pre-flight inspection, they'll get on board and be ready to go. Weight balance in the aircraft is pretty well predetermined.
[23:15:00]
It's really not going to be a huge consideration to the pilots. The gurneys or the beds for the patients are placed in such a way that they're always in the same place. We know the weight of the patient. We know the weight of all the passengers, approximate weights. You know, that really wasn't a consideration, whether we had too much weight in the back or too much weight in the front, especially on this airplane that is very, very well-powered.
COATES: I'm so glad you mentioned that, to give people a visual of the predetermined nature of where things may have gone. But we've learned that this was going to go from Philadelphia to Branson, and then eventually to Tijuana. Branson was going to be a technical stopover to refuel. Given that this crash and explosion seemed to happen within minutes of even taking off, what type of equipment and fuel would have been on at this particular point? Would this have been a full -- obviously a fully fueled flight falling nearly, what, a thousand miles?
COWELL: Right. The pilots would have fueled the airplane not only for the length of the trip, but for any alternates. Under federal aviation regulations, you're required to have enough fuel to your destination, enough fuel to hold, plus enough fuel to go to an alternate, and it's all dependent upon the weather at the destination. So, I suspect the plane had, you know, that much fuel on board.
The fuel is really kerosene. It's very thick, oily fuel. You know, it's very greasy. But if you were to take a can of kerosene, for example, and throw a match in it, it wouldn't ignite. What ignites are the fumes. The way this plane hit, there could have been nothing else but the explosion. Once that -- once that fuel -- I should say, once that airplane hit the ground.
COATES: Stay with us. I want to keep picking your brain on this really important evening and understand what might have transpired. I want to bring in my studio guests who are sitting beside me to help -- help try to make some sense or context of what we're seeing. CNN Aviation Analyst Mary Schiavo, who is a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation. Also, here, former FAA administrator, Billy Nolen.
Frankly, I can't believe we're here again, in the sense of just within 24, 48 hours, yet another crash here in the United States of America, and we're learning more about this particular flight. Mary, when you see just the images that have already come in, the fact that it's a medevac flight, the fact that it was on its way to Branson and eventually, we're learning this evening, to Tijuana, this explosion, what are you seeing?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, two things really stood out to me. One, as I went back and I looked on flight radar, and this plane really, as the previous pilot explained, really was a workhorse. This plane had been making two to three flights a day. It was scheduled for two to three flights a day and fairly long-haul flights. You know, 1,500 miles or so per flight. And, you know, that's a lot of -- I won't say we're in terror (ph), but that's a lot of flight hours on the plane. That's good and bad.
The good part of that is, you know, obviously, it was a plane that's not first flight out of maintenance. You always wonder when something happens, oh, did it just have maintenance and what did they do to the plane? Wasn't that at all? This plane had done a lot of flights.
COATES: Since maintenance?
SCHIAVO: No. I mean, there wasn't -- I didn't see on flight radar that it had been in maintenance. What we often worry about is if it has just come out of maintenance and then it has an accident on its first flight. I've seen that in many, many accidents that I've worked on.
And, of course, the other thing that struck me was the fall of that aircraft. You know, I've worked a lot of accidents and the fall to the earth like that is dramatic and that is unusual. For example, if your engines quit, you look for a place to set it down, you really don't usually fall from the sky like that. If it was a control problem, often there is time to, you know, radio to get off a Mayday call or at least ask for some emergency vectors.
The only two cases that I've worked on that I can recall right now where it fell from the sky like that, one was a load shift. It was a big plane and shortly after liftoff, the heavy load in the back of the plane shifted. But he said that the gurney, if there was a gurney, this patient apparently had recovered, but they were secured in the same place, they're always on the flight.
The other one that, and this has been a while, I worked on that one, was a fuel issue. They had fueled the plane with improper fuel, and when it took off, it didn't get but, you know, a thousand, 2,000 feet above the ground and then just fell.
[23:20:07]
COATES: Yeah.
SCHIAVO: And neither of those seemed to fit here because it was working out of the airports that it usually worked in, it had top maintenance, and that fall is dramatic and unusual.
COATES: I really want to hear your opinion, Billy. I want to bring you in. I want to take a quick break. But I want to -- I'm eager to hear how you have contextualized what you're seeing. We're watching these images. They are devastating to even imagine, and we've obviously outlined a few possibilities. We don't know, and that's the scariest part about it. But we have more ahead, and I want to hear your opinion. Ahead, much more on the plane crash in Philadelphia. I'll talk to a witness who saw it all happen in just a moment.
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[23:25:00]
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COATES: I'm Laura Coates. We're following breaking news tonight. A private medevac jet going from Philadelphia to Missouri crashing right after takeoff. The plane appearing to go into a nosedive and plunging into a neighborhood.
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UNKNOWN (voice-over): What the hell? What the hell? What the hell? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. That's a plane, bro. That's a plane. I caught that on camera. Yup. What the hell? Oh, my God!
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COATES: It just sends chills down your spine to hear that. That fireball spreading to homes, it spread to vehicles. And within the last few moments, the operator of the plane confirmed that a mother and her daughter were among the six people on board. They had been in Philadelphia for a medical procedure for the daughter. And the plane's final destination was Tijuana, Mexico.
And we've also just learned in the last few moments that at least six people were taken to a hospital. Three of them have been released. Three are still in the hospital in fair condition. We're unsure if there are other injuries this evening.
I want to bring in Gustavo and Sam Chavez. They actually witnessed the plane coming down in Philadelphia. It's unbelievable to think about what has happened. I mean, Gustavo, Sam, can you just describe what you saw and what was going through your mind? Did you even register what was happening?
SAM CHAVES, EYEWITNESS TO PHILADELPHIA PLANE CRASH: Not at all. We were home, like, our normal night, you know, giving a bath to our daughter --
COATES: Hmm.
CHAVES: -- and all of a sudden, we just felt this immense, like, shaking in our whole house. I opened the window and I just saw it. And, like, at first, we didn't register what it was, like, we were like, oh, something blew up, and we didn't know what was going on. We started kind of freaking out, and then --
GUSTAVO CHAVES, EYEWITNESS TO PHILADELPHIA PLANE CRASH: We ran outside.
S. CHAVES: Yeah.
G. CHAVES: -- and I grabbed my phone to -- to record. I started doing a live. I really got super close to the fire.
S. CHAVES: To also see if anybody needs help.
G. CHAVES: Yes, to also see if anybody needed help.
COATES: Oh, you tried to run to that location?
S. CHAVES: I'm sorry?
COATES: You tried to go to that location to help somebody? Oh, my goodness.
G. CHAVES: No, yeah, because we live --
S. CHAVES: We live, like, right there.
G. CHAVES: Like probably 10 houses down.
S. CHAVES: Yeah.
G. CHAVES: And -- S. CHAVES: One of my friends live on the corner.
G. CHAVES: Yeah.
S. CHAVES: So, we kind of, like, freaked out. We were, like, is she okay?
G. CHAVES: And I ran there.
COATES: Is she?
G. CHAVES: I started running, like I said. And there were dead bodies on the floor. I was, like, what happened? At first, I thought it was a gas tanker, like, just driving and somebody hit. But later, when I found out and saw that it was an airplane --
S. CHAVES: It didn't register in our minds.
G. CHAVES: It didn't. Right now, that --
S. CHAVES: Like, we're seeing the images right now and we're, like, recap everything that we actually saw and it's like -- it's --
G. CHAVES: And --
S. CHAVES: There's no words to say what we feel.
COATES: What did you -- I want to ask, what did you -- what did you specifically see when you went outside? Did you see a part of the plane? Did you see cars or homes damaged? What were you seeing?
G. CHAVES: So, what I saw, I saw a bunch of parts scattered through my street --
S. CHAVES: Yeah.
G. CHAVES: -- and --
S. CHAVES: Like, parts of the plane.
G. CHAVES: Of the plane. And -- and I saw also -- I believe was like a part of the tank of the gas, saline or something.
S. CHAVES: Something on the plane. It was like this piece that was --
G. CHAVES: That was pretty big.
S. CHAVES: Like the breeze. You know, all over and, like, smoke. Smoke and fire. One of the houses was catching on fire as well. And they were trying to evacuate people, like, to everybody be safe.
G. CHAVES: And it's crazy because my parents were coming to our house on that road to get Raising Canes for us. And Raising Canes is right next to where it happened.
[23:30:01] S. CHAVES: Yeah.
G. CHAVES: He was late for five minutes. If he was there in five minutes, he --
S. CHAVES: He would have been in the --
G. CHAVES: He would have been there and probably --
COATES: Tell me -- tell me -- can you describe that street? I'm sorry, there's a little bit of a lag. I don't want to talk over you. I'm so sorry that I just did. But can you describe that street? I know Raising Cane's. Obviously, a fast food restaurant that is on -- that is normally at major intersections. Can you describe how busy this road is and about how many houses are around it?
G. CHAVES: No, this road is busy day and night.
S. CHAVES: Yes, always. And then the main street is like this, and then there are multiple row homes going towards like that side. And our home is like pretty much in front of what happened, like the role of our house is like pretty much where it was the accident. And like that street is never quiet, never. You will never see that street with no cars. It's always -- it's literally like getting out of Rosa though a lot of people -- like, it's an intersection that is very busy.
COATES: Do you feel safe in your home tonight? I mean, this must be just surreal.
G. CHAVES: Like tonight, like tonight, we're not -- we're not even at home. We're at my parents' house. We came here because we don't feel safe.
S. CHAVES: And we have a baby.
G. CHAVES: And we have a baby. We just want to, like, wait until stuff comes down, they find out what happened, if it was a terrorist attack or something --
S. CHAVES: Yeah, we don't know.
G. CHAVES: -- of that nature. We don't know, so we want to play safe, stay at my parents' house that lives like 10 minutes away. And I feel bad for the people, unfortunately, who passed away
S. CHAVES: Yeah. And their families.
G. CHAVES: And their families because it's sad.
S. CHAVES: Yes.
G. CHAVES: The bodies that I saw laying down there --
COATES: I'm so sorry that you had to -- that you saw that. I hate to even ask the question. The bodies that you believe you saw, were they people who were in the neighborhood, they were in cars, they were in buildings? Where did you --
S. CHAVES: They're probably walking, driving or something --
G. CHAVES: You couldn't tell. You couldn't tell because --
S. CHAVES: It was all scattered. Like, it really didn't make sense where they were coming from. Like --
G. CHAVES: There was a piece here. There's a piece there. It was -- people who was alive (ph). It is terrifying.
S. CHAVES: It's engraved in the mind.
G. CHAVES: It was saved there forever.
S. CHAVES: Yeah.
COATES: I'm so sorry that this has happened. Gustavo, Sam, I'm glad that your baby is okay and that you were in a safe space --
G. CHAVES: Yeah.
COATES: -- and we appreciate you bearing witness to what has happened tonight. Thank you.
S. CHAVES: Thank you, guys.
G. CHAVES: Thank you. Have a good night.
COATES: Back with me, Billy Nolen, Maria -- Mary Schiavo, excuse me. Seeing bodies on the ground. They've described -- unspeakable. They described as being engraved in their minds as well. The timing of this, Billy, this was 40 seconds into takeoff. They had not even reached, what, 1,600 feet. Just to give a reference point for people, you've got what, the Sears Tower, about 1,700 feet. Empire State Building, about 1,400. It's not even at a level where people would clear those buildings. What does this indicate to you?
BILLY NOLEN, FORMER FAA ADMINISTRATOR (voice-over): Well, when I think about it, having been a training captain in the past life during my airline career, takeoff is one of the most critical phases of flight, right? And so, it's one that pilots are trained to handle. You know, it would be, I wouldn't want to speculate in this particular case, right? So, we will see once the NTSB arrive, along with the FAA and others, to be able to get the flight data recorder, and we'll get a good sense of what actually happened. Did they lose power?
This is indicative to me of a loss of control and what we call loss of control in flight, especially, you know, almost immediately after takeoff. In this case, you know, you've reached an altitude of 1,600 feet. If suddenly you've completely lost power, the ability -- you know, you don't have many options and, obviously, as we see here. So, I don't want to minimize the, you know, the horrific nature of this, but if I sort of think about it, it really does kind of -- you're into that loss of control. So, the question remains, what led to that? What caused it? COATES: What do you mean that you don't have that many options? Because the angle you're describing, the center of gravity is compromised and you don't have a lot of maneuverability to correct whatever might be happening?
[23:35:02]
NOLEN (voice-over): To the extent that you suddenly -- let's say, for example, and this is speculative, let's say, for example, you suddenly lost power to both engines and you're at a high angle of attack, what we like to say, the angle relative to level flight, suddenly you lose power, you've got to get that nose down, you're losing -- you no longer have thrust to keep your airborne, and so you've got to get the nose down to preserve.
Now, this airplane could glide, depending on how quickly the pilots are able to react and how fast this happened, right? So -- but again, we will get answers in due course and it really is a tragic event.
COATES: It is. And there are so many unanswered questions. We're going to try to unpack as much as we can and bring you the very latest. Next, more on the emergency response on the ground in Philadelphia. The city's former police commissioner is going to join me in just a moment.
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[23:40:00]
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COATES: Breaking news in Philadelphia, a private medevac jet crashed in a neighborhood just after takeoff. We know now that at least six people were on board. And within the last few minutes, the Mexican government confirming to CNN that everyone on board were Mexican nationals. Among those on the small jet, a mother and her daughter who were in Philadelphia for a medical procedure. The plane was making a stop in Missouri before heading to Tijuana, Mexico. At least six people on the ground were injured, but we have not heard of other injuries.
I want to bring in former Philadelphia police chief and CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey. Chief Ramsey, thank you for being here. Tell us about the area where this plane crashed. I know you've reported that there were fatalities on the ground. What can you tell us?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, it's a very busy area. Cottman is a major thoroughfare in Northeast Philadelphia. This happened shortly after 6:00. So, rush hour was still taking place. You can tell from the dashcam video that you just showed. But there's still quite a few cars in traffic.
Now, I've spoken to some people that are on the scene. Unfortunately, they're telling me that there were some fatalities on the ground as well as injuries. There's a huge debris field that's there as well with parts from the aircraft as well as, unfortunately, some human remains.
COATES: Chief, how would you begin to respond for law enforcement and first responders to that large debris field knowing the extent of this damage? What does the response look like and how did it work?
RAMSEY: Well, the initial response, obviously, is to, you know, get a handle on the fire. So, the fire department arrived. I'm told it was about 100, 150 firefighters in total. They're fighting the blaze. It takes specialized equipment to put out a fire like that because it's jet fuel that is burning and you can't put water on it. It's a foam that's used.
Then you had fire in several of the buildings. You have row homes on one side of Cottman, and then you have a shopping mall on the other. So, you not only would have had vehicular traffic, you would have had a lot of pedestrian traffic out there as well at the time the plane came down, and I'm told it came down right in the middle of Cottman Avenue there. So, the worst possible place for this to occur is in a heavily populated area.
COATES: And at that time, just trying to navigate that space. So, would you need to have additional law enforcement from other jurisdictions for the scope of an event like this?
RAMSEY: Well, the state police is assisting the rapid response team within Philly P.D., as well as district personnel responded, traffic control, crowd control. Once they get a handle on the scene, they get it secured. Then, of course, at some point in time, you have to begin going through it for evidence, but you have to secure the scene. But priority one is life and you have to be able to try to save as many lives as possible.
I'm told there were a lot of residents that were evacuated from the row houses there. But unfortunately, you still had people that were critically injured, well severely injured, as well as some that, unfortunately, were killed as a result of this.
COATES: We are at the beginning of understanding the extent of this tragedy. Chief Ramsey, thank you for your expertise. We'll continue to rely on you here. Up next, an update on the other aviation disaster that we have been following, that involving the collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.
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[23:45:00]
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COATES: We're also following a big breakthrough in the investigation into the mid-air crash at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening. The black box from the military helicopter that collided with the American Airlines jet, that has now been recovered. It will be absolutely key in trying to figure out what was going on inside of the Black Hawk, so will two new videos that have been obtained by CNN that show the moment of the crash.
Here's one of them. Shot from the banks of the Potomac. You can see the helicopter coming in from the left. It approaches the plane as it's heading toward Reagan National Airport, and it flies right into it. Debris from both aircraft plunging into the river.
Now, this is the second new video. It is shot from within the airport. The Black Hawk is again approaching from the left, and they collide into a fireball. Part of the plane spins off toward the left and into the river, while the Black Hawk debris falls toward the right.
CNN's Danny Freeman is at Reagan National Airport.
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Danny, the black boxes, those are now in the hands of investigators. So, what now?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura, that was really the biggest headline out of the NTSB press comments earlier this afternoon, that all three black boxes have now been recovered. And like you noted, this is going to be absolutely crucial to understanding what may have led up to that crash back on Wednesday evening.
We had already reported that the two black boxes from the passenger jet had been recovered. That's the flight cockpit recorder and also the flight data recorder. The -- excuse me, the cockpit voice recorder. Interestingly enough, one of those black boxes was filled with water. So, the NTSB investigators, they said that they had to actually put it into a vacuum oven to get all of the moisture out. But as you noted, the NTSB is confident that they'll be able to get as much information as possible out of those two black boxes. But that key development today is that the Black Hawk helicopter also had a black box and it had no exterior damage to it when the NTSB found it.
Literally, Laura, these black boxes can help even create an animation. That's how many data points there are of exactly what happened right before that crash. That's so important, especially with the Black Hawk, Laura, because there has been a lot of questions over the past 24,48 hours about the flight path of that Black Hawk helicopter, especially because CNN learned from a flight tracking company, Flightradar24, the Black Hawk helicopte was flying, it appeared to be flying about 100 feet over the maximum altitude that it should have been flying around Reagan and around the Potomac River. So, all of this is going to be crucial to this investigation. Laura?
COATES: Danny Freeman, so important to try to unpack what's going on here. Thank you for that information. We've got a lot to unpack on what happened in those moments before the fatal crash right here in Washington, D.C.
I want to bring in former Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot Elizabeth McCormick. Elizabeth, I want to begin with these, frankly, stunning videos that have been obtained by CNN that show two new angles of this collision. This video shows the helicopter flying at rapid speed over the Potomac River as the American Airlines flight is seen flying, of course, toward the airport. Then that collision happens.
And then in another surveillance video that was shot from the airport grounds, it shows the plane's descent as the Black Hawk continues to fly over the river. They continue to fly toward one another, but at a low altitude. Tell me what your critical eye is seeing.
ELIZABETH MCCORMICK, FORMER ARMY BLACK HAWK PILOT: Well, the biggest thing is they should have seen each other, right? Or at least -- well, let me clarify. The Black Hawk should have seen the jet, so -- which makes me wonder because they had already thought they were deconflicted, that they had --
COATES: What does that mean?
MCCORMICK: So, air traffic control, when they asked, do you have visual on the CRJ, previously, and they told them to go behind, I still think they were looking at the other aircraft, the one that just taken off.
COATES: So, the deconflicted mean they may have said they saw a plane, but not the specific one, obviously, that they collided with. How about the flight paths themselves? I mean, the flight tracking data, Elizabeth, confirming the helicopter was flying too high, apparently, and even veered off the authorized path. And you say perhaps all the ground clutter or maybe the ambient light from the night vision goggles may, if they were wearing them, may have confused the crew? Is that it?
MCCORMICK: Absolutely. There's so much ground clutter there between -- and the reflections off the river, they're supposed to be over the river, and very easily could have veered off. What I suspect, and I'm -- not the right word, thrilled, right? I'm happy that we've got a recorder because not all helicopters have the data, the combined data recorder, thus the voice and the data. Most of them just have the data.
So, I'm thrilled that we are going to get some answers because -- you know, answers for the investigation, answers for the safety. We'll be able to know what happened. And that's my biggest question. What happened in those last 10 seconds before that incident? Did they see it? They didn't make any evasive maneuvers. Were they -- did they know they were 100 feet high? Was it an altimeter error where it wasn't calibrated or set correctly? That's what -- the gauge that tells you how high you are off the ground. Like, what happened in those last moments? And that's really the biggest question that everyone has.
COATES: And would that communication normally be with all three of the passengers who were on the Black Hawk or would they be primarily from one person? Would we be hearing the voices of all, perhaps?
MCCORMICK: Oh, Black Hawks are noisy. You're going to hear both pilots talk constantly. There's no such thing as a quiet pilot. You're going to hear them constantly talking back and forth. You know, did you see that? Check. Clear right, clear left. You're going to hear a lot of communication back and forth.
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This was also a training flight with an instructor pilot. So, you're also going to hear some -- and what I suspect is they might have gone inside thinking that everything was clear on the outside. They might have come into the aircraft and had a conversation about something in a training mode in that moment.
COATES: And really quickly, I know we're focusing a lot on visual, many people would assume that aircrafts are used by instrument flight reading as well, not just the visual. For helicopters or a Black Hawk in particular, they would not have been relying on instruments to identify on their own radar more than one aircraft or even an aircraft?
MCCORMICK: No, there's not -- we don't have radar. At least we don't use -- you know, as far as I know, there's not like avoidance. Well, they do have one, but usually down low. It's not turned on because it's going to pick --
COATES: Yeah.
MCCORMICK: -- up a tree, it's going to pick up -- you know, whatever is in the area. So, in this case, when you're flying visual, you are responsible for visual clearance, period. And that is with the crew chiefs in the back checking. In this case, there was only one, as well as the two pilots to make sure that they had that clearance. Air traffic control can deconflict and in this case --
COATES: Okay.
MCCORMICK: -- point out traffic because they see them on their scope. They see the heading, they see the direction, so they can deconflict and, you know, we know what's happening there where there was a miscommunication.
COATES: Elizabeth McCormick, thank you so much.
Next, more on the breaking news out of Philadelphia now. A medevac twin-engine jet crashing into a busy street and leaving a field of fire and debris in its wake. Back in a moment.
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