Philly plane crash: Woman describes terrifying moments as her house is destroyed
NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA - A Northeast Philadelphia mom was in her home making dinner on what seemed a normal evening when the unthinkable happened.
The woman heard what sounded like a bomb go off nearby and after taking off to see what was happening, she couldn’t believe a plane crashed, killing everyone on board.
Timeline:
29-year-old Alexis Lloyd says it was a normal Friday night, and she was making dinner when she suddenly felt what she thought was a bomb.
Quickly, Lloyd says she realized the entire downstairs of her home on Cottman Avenue and Rupert Street exploded. When she ran outside, she says she never expected to see what she did and doesn’t know how she will get past it.
Lloyd says she her car parked outside of her home also was damaged and debris lay throughout her entire house. At the time of the crash, she was with her boyfriend and fortunately her 7-year-old daughter was with Lloyd’s mom.
Philly plane crash: 7 dead, including 6 aboard medical flight; 19 others injured
Officials have confirmed a total of seven people have died and 19 are injured after a jet rescue ambulance plane crashed in Northeast Philly Friday night. All six aboard the child patient's flight, including a pediatric patient, her mother, and four crew members were killed and one person on the ground also died.
What they're saying:
"Smoke was everywhere and I just remembered screaming and running out seeing Cottman Avenue engulfed in flames," said Lloyd. "I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t think it was a plane crash until people started saying it was plane pieces everywhere."
"I saw the house on the tv and I just started going, ‘That’s the house, that’s my house’ and my granddaughter did the same thing and we just started hugging and crying," said Vanessa Temple, Lloyd’s mother. "I’m so glad that she’s okay. Clothes and cars and house, you can get that stuff again but, I could never get them again, her and my granddaughter. I can’t replace them."
Big picture view:
Following the explosion, Lloyd also says their new puppy Princess, a gift to her 7-year-old daughter Kennedy for Christmas, went missing. Lloyd says when she went to the hospital, a firefighter took Princess. When she was discharged, family members took to social media to post pictures of the dog, hoping she was still in good hands.
Late Saturday night, Lloyd received a call the firefighter had Princess and his family offered to care for her until Alexis and Kennedy find housing.
"She means a lot," said Lloyd. "That's like my daughter’s favorite thing to do outside of school, play with Princess."
The family is currently trying to determine where they will live now that their home is gone and their neighborhood is at the center of the investigation of the fatal crash.