Two Crashes
Just two days after a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided near Washington, D.C., a small plane crashed in Philadelphia.
What do we know about the Philadelphia crash?
On Friday night, a medical transport plane carrying a six-year-old patient, the child’s mother, two medical personnel, and two pilots crashed near a shopping center shortly after takeoff. Everyone on board was killed; on the ground, one person in a car was killed, and at least 22 others were injured.
The child had traveled from Tijuana, Mexico, to the U.S. for medical treatment and was headed back home.
What happened?
A director from Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operated the flight, said there was “absolutely no indication” of issues before takeoff. Investigators have recovered the aircraft’s two engines, but the cockpit voice recorder––commonly called a black box––remains missing.
Any updates on the other crash?
Investigators are still determining what led to Wednesday’s deadly collision in D.C., but publicly available data shows the military helicopter was flying above the 200-foot altitude limit meant to keep military and commercial aircraft safely separated.
Separately, a preliminary FAA report found the Reagan National control tower was understaffed (along with 91% of all air traffic facilities in the U.S.), with one air traffic controller handling two positions when the collision occurred.
Anything else?
The political finger-pointing has been fierce in D.C. and on social media. Republicans are (generally) blaming controller shortages on DEI programs, while Democrats are (generally) blaming recent actions by the Trump administration.
(We’re also covering this story on Thursday in Decaf, The Pour Over for Families. Sign up—for free—here.)
RADIATE HOPE
Christians don’t need to tune out tragedy or downplay the heaviness of this world to hold onto joy and hope. Our Savior Jesus confronted darkness directly and triumphed over it through his death and resurrection.
“So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you. In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.… I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
John 16:22–23, 33 (CSB) (read full passage)