Investigators are early into their investigation of the plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia that killed seven people.

The big picture: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has been on the ground since Friday, says it'll take several days — or potentially weeks — to collect and analyze evidence from the sprawling crash site.

The latest: Investigators have recovered the jet's black box, the NTSB said Sunday night.

• They found it 8 feet underground, along with an enhanced ground proximity warning system that could contain flight data. They also found the plane's engines.

The parts are being sent to the agency's lab in Washington, D.C. to be analyzed.

• Investigators also obtained surveillance footage and several statements from witnesses. They encouraged the public to email NTSB with video and photos of the crash.

The agency said it expects to have a preliminary report done within 30 days.

• But a final report with a probable cause won't come for 1-2 years.

Zoom in: The medical jet climbed to about 1,500 feet before descending at a 45-degree angle and crashing on Cottman Avenue about 3.5 miles away from the airport, according to city and federal officials.

• The crew didn't send any distress messages from the cockpit and didn't respond to a transmission from air traffic control, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said.
• The jet was in the air for less than a minute.

"It looks like a rocket that comes straight down," David Evans, an airline transport pilot and flight instructor, told the Inquirer. "Even a Lear has some sort of glide capability. It just looks so highly unusual."

Based on air traffic control recordings, the weather at the time of the incident and publicly available flight path data, the two most likely culprits are either spatial disorientation in a low overcast cloud layer immediately after takeoff, or some catastrophic mechanical failure, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick — a pilot — tells us.

• Juan Browne, a commercial pilot and aviation accident expert, tells Axios spatial disorientation is more common at night when pilots are reliant on their instruments to help them fly.
• The lack of a distress call and the steep, rapid decline suggest the pilots were "110 percent task saturated" trying to safely navigate, Browne says. "We call it 'helmet fire' in the industry."

Caveat: Only after the official investigation may we have a full understanding of what happened.

• That the aircraft impacted the ground so violently will no doubt complicate investigators' work, given the state of the physical evidence, Axios' Fitzpatrick adds.

What they're saying: Tammy Duffy, a 59-year-old pharmaceutical representative from Hamilton, New Jersey, tells Axios she was stuck in rush-hour traffic near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard when the plane struck.

• The explosion and a fiery mushroom cloud sent people running for their lives.
• "Time froze," says Duffy, who shut her vents to keep acrid smoke from entering her car. "It reminded me of 9/11."

Commissioner Lisa Deeley said on X the tragedy has shaken the neighborhood where she grew up: "You see these things on TV, but it's totally different when it is in your own backyard," Deeley wrote.

Heather Long, who lives near the crash site, told Axios residents are worried about how they'll get to work this week — since many streets are still barricaded with police officers preventing traffic from entering or leaving.

• "We don't have any answers," Long said. "I want to know when we can leave."

What's next

"Long-term recovery": That's what the city's Managing Director Adam Thiel is warning residents to brace for as the massive effort to restore normalcy to the neighborhood gets underway.

The crash site along Cottman Avenue — a busy corridor with a mix of homes and businesses — stretches at least a half-mile between Bustleton Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard.

• Aerial footage shows a deep crater in the ground there, and a debris field that officials said likely spans several miles.
• The full extent of the damage isn't even known yet, officials said: They'll only be able to assess it after the crash investigation.

Mike's thought bubble: I went down to the site Sunday and saw the usually bustling, noisy hub brought to a standstill — a surreal feeling.

• The scene was eerily quiet even though there were police, investigators and onlookers everywhere, and I watched investigators use an excavator to hoist the charred remains of abandoned cars onto a tow truck.

State of play: Roosevelt Boulevard is expected to open by rush hour Monday morning, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Sunday.

• The Roosevelt Mall is expected to reopen on Tuesday, Kristen Moore, a spokesperson for mall owner Brixmore Property Group tells Axios.
• PECO has restored services to the neighborhood, except for some buildings that were impacted by the crash.
• It's not clear when Cottman Avenue will reopen to traffic.

What we're watching: The city is still working to figure out exactly how many people were displaced or missing due to the crash.

• "It is possible there are still people … that we don't know about," Thiel said Sunday.

Officials will hold a town hall meeting at 7pm on Wednesday to answer residents' questions and share more resources. The location: Solomon Solis-Cohen School (7001 Horrocks St).

• The city is partnering with three organizations so residents can soon donate to people impacted by the crash.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.

Investigators continue combing through the wreckage of the small jet crash that rocked Northeast Philadelphia Friday night, leaving a gaping hole in the ground — and through the heart of residents still reeling from the tragedy.

• All six passengers onboard and one motorist on the ground died in the incident, according to city officials.

The big picture: The plane crash followed the country's deadliest aviation disaster in more than 20 years, when an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers on Wednesday night outside of D.C.

The latest: The number of people injured in the Philly crash has risen to 24 people, including four who remain hospitalized — two of them in critical condition, Mayor Cherelle Parker said Monday afternoon. City officials declined to confirm the names of the victims.

• At least 11 homes were damaged, but the city isn't sure how many people have been displaced, the city's Managing Director Adam Thiel said Sunday.
• City officials will hold a town hall meeting at 7pm on Wednesday to answer residents' questions and share resources. The location: Solomon Solis-Cohen School (7001 Horrocks St).

Investigators found the black box Sunday, the NTSB said.

• The crew didn't send any distress messages from the cockpit and didn't respond to a transmission from air traffic control, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday evening.
• According to city officials, "Flight logs show the plane was in the air for only a minute before it crashed."

State of play: PECO has restored services to the neighborhood, except for some buildings that were impacted by the crash, officials said Sunday morning.

• Roosevelt Boulevard is expected to open by rush hour on Monday morning, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
• It's unclear when Cottman Avenue and adjacent streets will reopen, or when Roosevelt Mall and the businesses in the affected area will open.
• The school district is holding classes Monday morning.

The debris field could span several miles, officials said previously, and residents are being asked to avoid the area.

• The city has a shelter open at Samuel Fels High School (5500 Langdon Street) in partnership with the Red Cross. And deputy managing director of health and human services Crystal Yates-Gale said the city is offering counseling for residents.

Investigators could be seen working on Cottman Avenue Sunday. An excavator hoisted up burned-out cars onto a tow truck.

• The area is normally a bustling, noisy hub of activity, but the mall and businesses along the crash site remained closed.

Catch up quick

The Learjet 55 crashed around 6:10pm Friday night. The six people aboard were Mexican nationals, according to a post on X from Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• The medical jet, operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The jet was carrying a pediatric patient who had been treated at Shriners Children's Hospital in Philly, and who was returning home to Mexico with her mother, escorted by four crew members.
• "I know that the team there [at Shriners] in Philadelphia had a sendoff for her [Friday]," Mel Bower, a spokesperson for the hospital, told NBC10. "It's always a meaningful but yet emotional time for us. It's really just been compounded by the tragic ending."

What they're saying: "We heard an explosion and then saw the aftermath of flames and smoke," one eyewitness told 6ABC after the crash. "Common sense told me that I not get close to it and very quickly, just a cavalry of police and first responders. God bless them for going into harm's way."

• The tragedy drew out "the best of Philly," Gov. Josh Shapiro said Friday night. "We saw neighbor helping neighbor."

Zoom out: Parker said the city is partnering with three organizations to help people impacted by the crash, and that residents will soon be able to donate.

Go deeper: Philadelphia plane crash: What went wrong

Editor's note: This story has been updated with statements and additional details throughout.

Federal probes into alleged civil rights abuses by a dozen cities' police departments haven't led to any reform agreements during the Biden administration — and are unlikely to do so in Donald Trump's second term.

Why it matters: The investigations by President Biden's Justice Department came in response to allegations of systemic, unconstitutional misconduct by the police departments, such as using excessive force and conducting illegal traffic stops.

• Such probes often lead to court-ordered consent decree agreements, which require police to impose various reforms.
• But Trump suggested during the presidential campaign that he equates such pacts to "defunding the police," or weakening law enforcement.

Zoom in: During Trump's first term, his administration refused to enter into any consent decrees to reform police departments, even after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020 put pressure on law enforcement agencies.

• Trump's administration unsuccessfully sought to withdraw from consent decrees negotiated during the Obama administration, but not yet finalized, in Chicago and Baltimore.

Biden's Justice Department launched investigations into these agencies:

• Phoenix Police Department
• Louisville (Ky.) Metro Police Department and Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government
• Louisiana State Police
• Worcester (Mass.) Police Department
• Minneapolis Police Department
• The City of Lexington (Miss.) and Lexington Police Department
• Rankin County (Miss.) Sheriff's Department
• Mount Vernon (N.Y.) Police Department
• New York (N.Y.) Police Department Special Victims Division
• Oklahoma City Police Department
• Memphis Police Department
• Trenton (N.J.) Police Department

Justice Department officials announced last month it had found that police in Trenton engaged in unconstitutional policing practices, including using excessive force and conducting illegal traffic stops.

• The DOJ said Trenton officers used pepper spray in about 15% of more than 800 physical encounters with the public.
• Two police units known for their heavy-handed tactics were disbanded after the DOJ launched its probe.

Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora told Axios he's unsure whether federal authorities and the city can negotiate a consent decree requiring new procedures before Trump enters office Jan. 20.

What they're saying: Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment on the police probes.

• Project 2025, the plan for Trump's second term put together by dozens of Trump allies, calls for Trump's administration to avoid entering into consent decrees or settlements that "bind" law enforcement agencies for "years or decades."
• Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general in Biden's Justice Department, said that "ensuring lawful, non-discriminatory, transparent, and effective policing is a top priority for the Justice Department. The Justice Department is steadfast in its commitment to ensuring the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans are protected."

Reality check: Some city leaders and public safety experts tell Axios that federal oversight of police departments has had mixed results. In some cases, they've driven up costs while doing little to curb violent crime, they say.

• A consent decree in Oakland, Calif., for example, has been in place for more than two decades.
• The city agreed to several reforms, including improving police misconduct investigations, to resolve a lawsuit brought by more than 100 residents who'd been targeted by a group of police officers known as the "Riders."
• But recently the department was criticized for its responses to an incident involving an alleged hit-and-run involving a high-ranking officer, and another case in which a homicide detective was accused of bribing a witness.
• Lawyers now want the police department placed into receivership, per the Oaklandside.

In Albuquerque, which has spent $40 million on reforms since entering into a consent decree in 2014, the police department's rate of deadly encounters is higher now than it was before the decree, per Searchlight New Mexico.

Yes, but: Police in Ferguson, Mo., are more racially diverse after federal authorities intervened in 2016 following the killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man.

• Philadelphia also has had a significant decrease in the number of illegal stop-and-frisks since entering a consent degree 13 years ago, per a monitor's latest report.
• The DOJ doesn't oversee that consent decree, so "the Trump administration cannot make us stop," says Mary Catherine Roper, a civil rights attorney and former ACLU-PA deputy legal director who helped litigate the case.

In Newark, N.J. — where police have been under a consent decree since a federal probe into excessive force and "vast racial disparities" in arrests — an independent monitor recently wrote that Newark police officers used lawful force in 97% of cases after the decree went into effect.

• Larry Hamm, founder of the People's Organization for Progress, which has protested Newark police's brutality for decades, tells Axios that residents fear problems will rear "their ugly head again" if the consent decree is lifted.