The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating two deadly plane crashes that occurred just days apart.
The first incident involved a collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., this past Wednesday night, resulting in the deaths of all 67 individuals involved. A source told CNN that a single controller was handling both helicopter and plane traffic, a situation that, while not uncommon, may have contributed to the incident.
The second crash happened in northeast Philadelphia on Friday night when a medevac jet crashed into a neighborhood, causing a massive explosion that terrified nearby residents. The medevac jet was transporting six people, including a pediatric patient and her mother who were returning to Mexico after treatment at Shriners Children’s Hospital. The crash killed at least one person on the ground and injured more than a dozen others. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker stated that the aircraft was only in the air for a short time before the fatal crash.
“The city is working around the clock to keep people safe, to understand what happened,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.