Kreindler Partner Vince Lesch recently authored, Litigating MedFlight Crashes: Continuing Trends and Legal Issues, published in the New York Law Journal. In the attorney article, Vince touches on the recent crash of an air ambulance airplane that crashed in a Philadelphia neighborhood on January 31, 2025. All passengers aboard the Learjet EMS plane and two people on the ground were tragically killed as a result of the medical flight. Video of f the crash was recorded by multiple people on the street as well as surveillance cameras. The crash became the subject of much media attention, and was on the heels of the January 29, 2025 midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army military helicopter over the Potomac in Washington D.C. in which 67 people perished.
The Philadelphia crash demonstrates why it is so important for operators to follow the
stringent operating standards for medflight. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash, but the massive fireball is a reminder of the primary reason that medflight crashes are so rarely survivable – air ambulance aircraft carry oxygen tanks on board for patient care, which explode in crashes and post-crash fires.
Kreindler attorneys have represented numerous victims and their families following the crash of an air ambulance, medical transport or EMS flight.
Author
Vincent C. Lesch
Vincent Lesch works on a variety of state and federal personal injury, wrongful death, and complex products liability matters with a focus on seeking justice for those injured or killed in major aviation accidents. Vince has played an active role in numerous commercial airline, military, and general aviation cases, including the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the fatal 2018 Helicopter Crash in New York’s East River, and Southwest Airlines Flight 1380. He is currently working on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 litigation.
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The Philadelphia crash demonstrates why it is so important for operators to follow the stringent operating standards for medflight. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash, but the massive fireball is a reminder of the primary reason that medflight crashes are so rarely survivable – air ambulance aircraft carry oxygen tanks on board for patient care, which explode in crashes and post-crash fires.