A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

A Learjet 55 on medevac duty crashed Friday evening in northeastern Philadelphia shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport (KPNE). The&nbsp;Mexican-registered twinjet was headed to Missouri’s Springfield-Branson National Airport (KSGF) when it went down in a residential neighborhood less than three miles from KPNE. All six aboard died in the crash.
According to FlightAware, the Learjet—registered as XA-UCI and operated by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Jet Rescue Air Ambulance—arrived at KPNE at 2:16 p.m. on Friday after a flight from Miami–Opa Locka Executive Airport (KOPF). From KPNE, it was scheduled to fly to General Abelardo L. Rodriguez International Airport in Tijuana, Mexico.
After departing KPNE at about 6 p.m. ET, the aircraft reached an altitude of 1,650 feet before plunging to the ground. Surveillance videos captured the aircraft crashing with an enormous fireball on impact, which ignited several houses and vehicles in the residential area. Locals described the impact as “earthquake-like” and several injuries were reported on the ground.
A statement from the operator listed six occupants onboard the jet—two flight crew members, two medical personnel, and a pediatric patient and their escort. FAA and NTSB officials are on the scene to investigate the accident.

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