PHILADELPHIA (BRN) – Located just three blocks from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, members of Proclamation Community Church are feeling the weight and impact of a devastating plane crash that claimed the lives of seven individuals, including an 11-year-old pediatric patient and her mother, when it crashed just three miles away from the airport along Cottman Avenue on Jan. 31, just after 6 p.m.
Officials estimate that the plane was in the air less than a minute before crashing down in front of the Roosevelt Mall, along Cottman Avenue and near Roosevelt Boulevard. Calvary Christian Church, another Baptist Resource Network (BRN) affiliated church, is located on East Roosevelt Boulevard, merely two miles away from the devastation.

At a town hall meeting on Feb. 5, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker reported that 343 homes were damaged by the crash. Some residents have lost everything, while others are temporarily displaced from their homes.
In addition to the seven lives lost, there are many facing physical injuries caused by the crash and others suffering mentally from the traumatic scenes.

During the town hall gathering, Mayor Parker shared that the city has set up a hotline for mental health assistance as well as a recovery communication service that will provide residents with emergency messages. The mental health hotline can be reached by calling 9-8-8.
Since the crash, Dr. Robert Fontell, senior pastor of Calvary Christian Church, and pastor Gerald Waters, mission pastor of Proclamation Community Church and case manager at George Washington High School, have been praying with/for their community and seeking ways to best care for the Northeast Philly region.
“On Sunday, I led our church in prayer for those impacted by this horrific tragedy. My plan is to have our church go out to the area and prayer-walk,” said Fontell.
The crash site is one of the locations that Calvary Christian Church regularly meets for prayer and outreach in the spring.
Fontell also shared that he is working closely with State Representative Jared Solomon, who lives two miles from the crash site, to meet with those impacted and find out their felt-needs.
“My goal is to gather as many church and community service organizations to help provide resources for those impacted, such as insurance claims assistance, mental health support, street cleaning and more.”
Fortunately, no one from Calvary Christian Church was directly affected by the crash, which has allowed Fontell and his church to begin these community-wide efforts.

Alternatively, Proclamation Community Church had multiple parishioners directly impacted by the plane crash.
Just minutes after the crash, Pastor Waters was on the phone, trying to reach an elderly woman from his flock.
“When the crash happened, I got an alert on the Citizens app [and] I immediately knew that one of my members lived in that area, so I reached out to her,” said Waters.
Waters quickly learned that the blast from the crash had blown out the windows in his parishioner’s home, but, thankfully, she was unharmed. Noticing that this dear member had been shaken up by the crash, Waters got in his car and headed to her home.
By the time he had arrived, the police had already closed off the street. Her home was about 500-feet from the plane crash, an area that was scattered with debris, including the heart-wrenching sight of human remains.
After learning that the member’s daughter had come and picked her up, Waters left the scene of the crash and went to the daughter’s home to pray with the family.
While there, he learned that another member of his congregation had been significantly impacted by the crash.
This member was a young woman who was visiting a friend in a neighborhood located near the crash site. She was painting her friend’s nails when suddenly the vehicle parked in front of her car exploded.
Noticing that her car was unscathed by the incident, she quickly gathered her belongings and her young son and drove home. Only when she arrived home did she notice that her car was marked with remains from the crash.
“The news didn’t capture this, but people who are involved in this saw a significant amount of carnage,” said Waters.
He continued: “These images in people’s minds of what they saw, I’m just praying that the Lord would help them to process such a traumatic scene and help them to have their mind renewed.”
Another angle of this tragedy Waters is taking to the Lord is all those who were with the plane’s passengers just moments before takeoff. This includes the husband of a women who attends Proclamation.
“Her husband was part of the crew that fueled the plane. He had just saw the patient [and] the mom…so he’s traumatized because, you know, he just saw them and then the plane crashed,” said Waters.

As the stories continue to pour in from those affected by the plane crash, Proclamation Community Church, Calvary Christian Church and other area churches and pastors are doing all that they can to minister to those in need.
Currently, many physical needs are still unknown as the investigation continues and the neighborhoods surrounding the crash site remain closed.
However, the need for prayer is in no shortage.
Waters shared four main ways churches and individuals can be praying in response to this tragedy:
- Pray for minds to be renewed. Specifically, the minds of those who were first-hand witnesses and are struggling to process the difficult scenes they saw.
- Pray for equity and fairness for those who have to file insurance claims for property damaged by the crash. Specifically, that these individuals can return to their homes promptly and regain some sort of normalcy.
- Pray that people would have the humility and openness to seek spiritual and mental health support. May they be receptive to help from believers and have a softened heart towards the hope found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Pray for the pastors who are walking with church and community members through these times. May the Lord give them the wisdom and strength they need.
“You know, a lot of people don’t really understand the intimacy of a relationship between a pastor and a member, and so when they are experiencing hardship the pastor does as well,” said Waters.
He continued: “Pray for them to be able to process their feelings but also be to be a source of strength and guidance to the best of their ability.”
Those in the Philadelphia region interested in praying with residents in Northeast Philadelphia can reach out to Pastor Nathaniel Holder, senior pastor at St. John Memorial Baptist Church, who will be setting up a Prayer Station tent near the site of the crash on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 1 p.m. Please contact him at nhold@aol.com or by calling 215-680-3740 for further details.
Kenton Hunt, PA/SJ director of disaster relief, is currently seeking DR chaplains in the Philadelphia region to help Pastor Holder with this prayer effort. Any chaplains available to meet this need are asked to email Kenton at kentonh@brnunited.org.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as we receive further information. Stay tuned to brnunited.org/news for the latest news.