Fact Check: Explosion In Philadelphia Was NOT Caused By 'Missile Or Comet' -- FAA Reports It Involved A Learjet 55 Airplane

Airplane

Was the explosion near Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia on January 31, 2025, not caused by an airplane crash but by a missile or comet? No, that's not true: The Federal Aviation Administration and multiple news outlets confirmed that the incident involved an aircraft. Global flight tracker Flight Radar 24 said the aircraft fell vertically at high speed. Other video angles distinctly show the silhouette and flashing lights of the airplane.

The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on X on January 31, 2025. It opened:

This does not look like a plane coming down. This looks like a missle or comet, something launched directly down. THIS IS NOT A PLANE. LOOK AT THIS. JUST HAPPENED. #PhiladelphiaCrash #planecrash #Philadelphia #FireAid

This is what the post looked like on X at the time of this writing:

(Source: X screenshot taken on Sat Feb 1 3:02:05 2025 UTC)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement (archived here) that confirms the incident involved an aircraft:

A Learjet 55 crashed around 6:30 p.m. local time on Friday, Jan. 31, after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Six people were on board. The plane was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation and will provide all updates.

Numerous media outlets reported the plane crash, including The Associated Press, ABC, Fox Philadelphia, and CBS.

Outlets including The Wall Street Journal and CNN also published video clips of the crash recorded by doorbell cameras and a dashcam. These videos show the silhouette and flashing lights of the midsize airplane.

Flight Radar 24 (archived here), a global flight tracker, also reported the accident, writing on X:

This evening, a Learjet 55 (XA-UCI) crashed shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The flight departed at 23:06 UTC, reaching a maximum altitude of 1,650 ft at 23:06:54. Granular ADS-B data shows the last message from the aircraft (non-position report) reported a vertical rate of -11,008 fpm

Below is an embed of that post:

This evening, a Learjet 55 (XA-UCI) crashed shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The flight departed at 23:06 UTC, reaching a maximum altitude of 1,650 ft at 23:06:54. Granular ADS-B data shows the last message from the aircraft (non-position report)... pic.twitter.com/FtUBYTgeua

-- Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 1, 2025

FlightRadar24 also published a playback (archived here) of Flight MT656 on its website, noting that the aircraft was a Learjet 55:

(Source: https://www.flightradar24.com/ screenshot taken on Mon Feb 3 18:11:28 2025 UTC)

The U.S. has advanced missile warning systems, according to the aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin's website:

SBIRS uses infrared surveillance to provide early missile warning for the U.S. military and is considered one of the nation's highest priority space programs. The system includes a combination of satellites and hosted payloads in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) and ground hardware and software.

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Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning airplanes can be found here.