Small plane crashes in Philadelphia, causing explosion and fire

A small plane has crashed into several homes in north-east Philadelphia on Friday evening, local police told BBC's US partner CBS News.

Two people were aboard the plane and there are reports of others injured on the ground, police said.

Fire officials in Philadelphia said multiple homes are on fire following the crash and explosion. Emergency crews have responded to the scene.

It is unclear what led to the crash, who was aboard the plane or if there are any survivors.

The crash happened just blocks from the Roosevelt Mall, a three-story shopping centre in a densely populated part of the Pennsylvania city.

The area where the crash occurred is filled with terraced housing and shops.

Video of the incident online show the plane coming down quickly and a huge fireball rocketing into the sky.

The plane, a Learjet 55, took off from from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport about 18:30 local time and crashed less than four miles (6.4km) away, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The FAA said in a statement that the flight was en-route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating.

Weather forecasts in the area show it's been a cloudy and rainy evening with winds measured around 10 to 20 mph.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro wrote on X that he's in touch with local authorities and is "offering all Commonwealth resources as they respond to the small private plane crash".

The plane crash comes just days after a much larger collision happened between a commercial jet and a military helicopter in Washington DC, where officials suspect all 67 people aboard both aircraft were killed.

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