As loved ones continue to mourn the seven people who were killed when a medical jet crashed into a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, the ambulance workers who took the youngest victim from the hospital to the airport shortly before the deadly crash are speaking out.
Alex Salas and Victor Benitez told NBC10 it seemed like a routine dispatch for them on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. The two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) were heading to Shriners Children’s Philadelphia to pick up Valentina Guzman Murillo.
“We were just dispatched to Shriners to take the crew and the patient from Shriners here to Philadelphia Northeast Airport,” Salas said.
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Deadly medical jet crash in Philly
Salas and Benitez arrived at the hospital where they met Murillo along with her mother Lizeth Murillo Ozuna. Valentina had spent five months at Shriners where she received medical treatment for a life-threatening illness. She had just been released that day and was set to return to her native Mexico.
“We got the patient on board. The staff was super happy,” Salas said. “They were sad because she was leaving but they were happy because she was finally going home. Especially the mom.”
A doctor and paramedic also met them at the hospital. Salas recalled the conversation the girl and her mother were having as he drove them to the airport.
“On the way over here, they were in the back talking. The little girl talking about Mexico,” he said. “They were all excited to go. Especially the mom because she was out here for so long.”
Once they arrived at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, they spotted the Learjet 55 on the tarmac. Benitez snapped a photo of the medical jet, which was set to take the girl and her mother to Missouri first before continuing to Mexico.
“We were joking with the pilot, talking about the Super Bowl,” Salas said.
The EMTs jokingly asked the pilot if he would come back to fly them all to the Super Bowl once they dropped off the girl and her mom.
“I believe the paramedic was the one that came to close the door. Kind of fisted us a goodbye. Thank you,” Salas said. “And then the pilot looked over to him and gave him like a little salute to leave, goodbye. And then that was it. They closed the door.”
The girl, her mother, Captain Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales, co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo, and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla were all on board the plane.
Salas said he and Benitez saw the plane take off and fly over them about ten minutes later. Shortly after, around 6 p.m., the two ambulance workers heard about a massive fire on Cottman Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, about three miles away from the airport. They soon learned that the Learjet 55 had plummeted to the ground, causing a massive explosion. All six people on board the jet were killed.
“Later on, our boss calls us to tell us that unfortunately it was our patient that we just loaded,” Salas said. “It was like a punch in the gut. We were just interacting with them. Joking.”
Steven Dreuitt, a 37-year-old man who was driving to the Roosevelt Mall with his son and partner in the car, was also killed in the crash.
Salas and Benitez later discovered the flight crew had left one oxygen tank in the ambulance. They plan to give it back to the company. Until then, however, it’s a sad reminder of the victims’ final moments.
“We were so happy for them,” Salas said. “The little girl going home. And unfortunately, it wasn’t so.”
