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Instagram posts
Instagram posts
stated on January 31, 2025 in an Instagram post:

Video shows a missile crashed in a Philadelphia neighborhood Jan. 31, not a jet.

False
By Ciara O'Rourke
February 5, 2025

No, this isn’t video of a missile crashing into a Philadelphia neighborhood

If your time is short

  • A Learjet crashed Jan. 31 in a Philadelphia neighborhood. That’s what this video shows — not a missile.

See the sources for this fact-check

Seven people died after a Learjet crashed Jan. 31 in Philadelphia, including six aboard the plane and one on the ground. Two dozen more were injured, and the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating. 

But some social media posts claim it was a missile, not a jet, captured hurtling toward the ground in a video shared online

“It’s a missile!!!!” reads text over the video that shows something white crashing to the ground and exploding.

“That’s a missile,” a Jan. 31 Instagram post sharing the video said.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The footage is authentic. The Associated Press posted it on YouTube with this description: “Videos capture moment small plane crashes in Philadelphia.” 

Because, according to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, it was a plane — not a missile that crashed into the ground. 

The plane, a Learjet 55, crashed around 6:30 p.m. local time Philadelphia after departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. It was headed to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. 

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have recovered the plane’s cockpit voice recorder at “the site of initial impact,” its enhanced ground proximity warning system and both engines, the agency said.  

The plane, an air ambulance ultimately bound for Mexico, crashed in a busy commercial and residential area, The Associated Press said. It “plummeted to the ground,” according to the news outlet, which quoted National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy as saying it was a “high-impact crash” that left the plane “highly fragmented.”

We rate claims the crash involved a missile and not a jet False.

Our Sources

Instagram post, Jan. 31, 2025

YouTube, Videos capture moment small plane crashes in Philadelphia, Jan. 31, 2025

The Associated Press, Mayor says 5 injured in fatal Philadelphia plane crash remain hospitalized, 3 in critical condition, Feb. 2, 2025

City of Philadelphia, City Provides Updates on Northeast Philadelphia Plane Crash, Mayor Meets with US Secretary of Transportation, Governor, Feb. 3, 2025

Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statements on Aviation Accidents and Incidents, visited Feb. 4, 2025

National Transportation Safety Board, Learjet 55 Medevac Crash, visited Feb. 4, 2025

 

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