The families of two victims killed when an air ambulance crashed in a Philadelphia neighborhood earlier this year have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging the medical transport company and others were responsible for the tragedy.
According to The Associated Press, the suit was filed on Monday on behalf of the estates of Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, a pediatrician, and Lizeth Murillo Osuna, the mother of a young girl who had been receiving medical care in Philadelphia.
Both were headed home to Mexico aboard a Learjet 55 operated by Med Jets, S.A. de C.V., which does business as Jet Rescue.
All six people onboard the aircraft were killed in the Jan. 31 crash. Two people on the ground also died, and more than 20 others were injured as the jet smashed into a densely populated neighborhood minutes after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
According to the lawsuit, the plane lifted off for its planned flight to Tijuana but went down about a minute later, slamming into the Rhawnhurst neighborhood near the busy Roosevelt Mall shopping center.
The jet “erupted in a massive explosion that engulfed multiple vehicles and houses and sent fiery debris raining down on terrified and helpless bystanders,” the complaint alleges.
The National Transportation Safety Board previously confirmed that the cockpit voice recorder was not functioning and that the crew never issued a distress call to air traffic control before the crash. The investigation into the cause remains ongoing.
The lawsuit names Jet Rescue and others involved in the aircraft’s design, manufacturing, maintenance, and inspection, though not all defendants have been formally identified. The plaintiffs accuse the companies of negligence and say their failures directly led to the deaths of Arredondo and Osuna.
Messages seeking comment were left for a Jet Rescue spokesperson and for attorneys linked to the company in related litigation. No public response has been issued.
Arredondo and Osuna were both Mexican citizens. Arredondo lived in Atizapán de Zaragoza, while Osuna was from Ensenada.
The case marks the first major legal action stemming from the catastrophic crash, which left a section of the Northeast Philadelphia community scarred and raised new questions about oversight in the medical air transport industry.
