Claims in N.E. Philly plane crash expected to exhaust airline’s $10 million insurance policy
Eight people were killed when a medical jet plummeted near the Roosevelt Mall in January.
Insurance claims for the Jan. 31 plane crash that killed eight and left a swath of destruction in Northeast Philadelphia will likely far exceed $10 million, according to a new federal court filing.
An insurance provider for Mexican medical airline Med Jets, S.A. De C.V. — which operates under the trade name Jet Rescue Air Ambulance — filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last month indicating that claims “will far exceed the remaining liability limits” of the company’s policy, valued at $10 million per aircraft.
The action comes in the wake of dozens of claims already filed on behalf of property owners, people injured or killed in the crash, or their next of kin. The suit says the company anticipates potentially hundreds more are likely to be filed.
The complaint seeks to consolidate the claims under a single court case and compel a federal judge to divvy up the remaining funds, which are “unlikely to be sufficient to resolve all claims” against the company.
Attorney Konrad Krebs, who is representing El Águila Compania de Seguros, which is Med Jets’ Mexico-based insurance company, said the complaint was meant to “streamline claims for compensation.”
A spokesperson for Med Jets did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Learjet 55 departed Northeast Philadelphia Airport on Jan. 31, carrying six occupants, including Valentina Guzmán Murillo, 11, and her mother, Lizeth Murillo Osuna, who were on their way home to Mexico following Valentina’s treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.
Shortly after takeoff, around 6 p.m., the aircraft dived sharply, crashing at a severe angle near the Roosevelt Mall along Cottman Avenue, leaving an eight-foot impact crater. All those aboard the plane, including two pilots and two medical staffers for Med Jets, were killed, as was Steven Dreuitt Jr., 37, a motorist. Dreuitt’s fiancee, Dominique Goods Burke, who had been in the car with him, died three months later.
Others on the ground suffered burns from ignited jet fuel, and numerous nearby homes and businesses caught fire or were struck by debris.
The cause of the crash is still not known.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. A preliminary report, issued in March, was largely inconclusive but found that the aircraft’s voice recorder had been inoperable for years.
Many of those affected by the crash say they have suffered emotional trauma or financial hardship.
The July complaint indicates that attorneys for the estates of the young patient and her mother, as well as onboard medic Raul Meza Arredondo, are already seeking damages.
So is the City of Philadelphia, which engaged in a lengthy emergency management process, as are a string of businesses near the Roosevelt Mall, including a Raising Cane’s franchise.
Arthur Wolk, a Philadelphia-based aviation attorney and pilot, said that the complaint was a reasonable step, given the extraordinary nature of the crash.
“The insurance company is saying, ‘This is all we have and we’re offering it to court. We have more claimants than coverage, and we want the court to equitably distribute in anyway you see fit,’” he said. “Ten million dollars is a lot. But they don’t anticipate the airplane crashing into a city street.”