Concerns are mounting over a critical flaw in the wings of a private jet, suspected to have caused a tragic crash that claimed six lives on a snow-covered runway.

The incident involved a Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 650 that overturned and ignited during its takeoff from Bangor International Airport in Maine around 7:45 p.m. on Sunday.

Among the victims were prominent attorney Tara Arnold, 46, chef Nick Mastrascusa, 43, wine connoisseur Shelby Kuyawa, 34, event planner Shawna Collins, 39, and pilot Jacob Hosmer, 47.

Owned by the influential law firm Arnold & Itkin, the aircraft was en route to Paris for Tara Arnold and her husband Kurt’s luxury travel project.

Crash investigators have just begun examining the debris, with all six bodies still trapped under the snow, and only a small team present at the site.

Aviation specialists suspect that ice accumulation on at least one wing may have caused the aircraft to stall and flip, leading to the devastating accident.

Two other Bombardier CL-600 series jets met the same fate in eerily similar crashes to Sunday night’s disaster, along with several others overseas.

Northeast Maine was walloped by Winter Storm Fern on Sunday along with 34 states across the US with snow and sleet falling and temperatures dropping to just 3F. 

The Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 650 flipped during takeoff from Bangor International Airport in Maine about 7.45pm on Sunday. The wreckage was still covered in snow with the bodies frozen inside it on Wednesday morning 

The jet flipped upside-down and burst into flames (wreckage pictured burning minutes later)

Former National Transportation Safety Board crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti told the Daily Mail that the plane’s wing design made it ‘particularly susceptible’ to ice contamination.

The remove ice, aircraft are sprayed with a de-icing solution and then treated with an anti-ice spray to prevent it from forming before they take off.

Airport logs showed the Challenger arrived from Houston at 6.09pm for refueling, and underwent de-icing at 7.17pm to 7.36pm, and took off at 7.44pm.

However, with the temperature so low and the storm setting in, that may not have been enough.

‘There was a unique kind of precipitation, a kind of snow and sleet mix, in this storm that can make the anti-icing fluid less effective or not effective at all,’ Guzzetti told the Daily Mail.

This concern was shared by the pilots of two other planes that night, at least one of which abandoned trying to fly through the storm.

One was an Allegiant Air Boeing 737 Max headed for St Petersburg in Florida that aborted its takeoff after manually checking its wings for ice.

‘One, our deice fluid has failed, and two, I don’t think the visibility is good enough for us to go, so we’re going to have to taxi back to the gate here,’ the pilot told air traffic control of its reasons for aborting.

Tara Arnold, 46, wife of personal injury attorney Kurt Arnold, died in the crash. The couple are pictured with their children Jaxon and Isla

Private chef Nick Mastrascusa, 43, (center) was on a location scouting trip for luxury travel company Beyond, started by powerful lawyers Kurt and Tara Arnold (pictured with Mastrascusa)

Jacob Hosmer, 47, the pilot of the private jet, was also killed in the crash

The pilots confirmed to the tower that ice was found just minutes after anti-ice was applied, and the light, powdery snow was sticking to the plane.

‘I don’t know what blew over the end of the runway, but the visibility dropped and it stuck to us like there’s nothing there,’ one of them said.

A Breeze Airways plane’s pilots responded that they ‘might end up staying the night’ after encountering the same problems.

‘Yeah, my guys are trying to make us go, but I keep telling them this is stupid,’ they said.

Just two minutes later, the Challenger jet reported it was ready for departure. Ten minutes later the horrified Breeze and Allegiant crews watched it crash.

Guidebooks for the Type 4 anti-ice fluid the jet used advise the aircraft must take off within nine minutes of application under the conditions at Bangor Airport that night.

Visibility was poor due to the storm that’s pummeling America, which brought heavy snowfall 

Weather cameras capture the poor visibility at the airport around the time of the crash 

Should even the smallest amount of ice or snow be left on the wings, the results could be catastrophic.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive in 2005 for Challenger 600 pilots to carefully inspect the wings for contamination before takeoff.

This was ‘prompted by a report that even small amounts of frost, ice, snow or slush on the wing leading edges or forward upper wing surfaces can cause an adverse change’.

Guzzetti said the FAA’s directive followed two eerily similar crashes by Challenger 600 planes that rolled on takeoff due to ice on their wings.

The first was a crash in Birmingham in the UK in January 2002 that killed all five people on board.

An investigation found the crew failed to properly check for ice on the wings, causing the plane to roll left on takeoff until the wing hit the ground and flipped the plane.

The report blamed ‘asymmetric ice contamination’ causing the left wing to stall more than the right, rolling the plane.

The first was a crash in Birmingham in the UK in January 2002 (wreckage pictured) that killed all five people on board

A Bombardier Challenger 650, the same model involved in Sunday night’s runway incident

The remove ice, aircraft are sprayed with a de-icing solution and then treated with an anti-ice spray to prevent it from forming before they take off

The second crash was in Montrose, Colorado, in November 2004 that killed three of the six people on board.

Like the Birmingham crash, the right wing dipped on takeoff and caused the plane to hit the ground. Fortunately, the plane didn’t flip and instead slid 1,400ft through a fence, over a road, and into another fence.

NTSB investigators again blamed ice on the wing, and noted even small amounts of surface roughness ‘can reduce maximum lift by as much as 33 percent’.

Even 1/64th of an inch of ice is enough to be dangerous, the NTSB said.

If one wing lifts less than the other, the plane will dangerously roll towards that wing. 

Other recorded incidents in Norway and Russia later in the 2000s followed a very similar pattern.

Guzzetti explained that the situation could be made worse when the plane has a full load of fuel as it makes it heavier.

The Challenger jet was headed to Paris after arriving from Houston, and had a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean to fuel up for.

The FAA reiterated its directives in 2008 after three similar incidents in Canada.

‘The unsafe condition is anti-ice system air leakage with a possible adverse effect on the anti-ice air distribution pattern and anti-ice capability without annunciation to the flight crew, and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane,’ it said. 

The second crash was in Montrose, Colorado, in November 2004 (wreckage pictured) that killed three of the six people on board

Another Bombardier Challenger CL-600 jet that crashed during takeoff from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey in February 2005

Pilots are supposed to manually check with their hands that that wings are free of ice. Whether the crew of the Bangor crash plane did this thoroughly enough is unclear.

Flight communications showed they only waited 30 seconds at the hold-short line, where planes wait and do final pre-flight checks being taxiing onto the runway.

Aviation surveillance systems showed the plane accelerated down the runway to 158 knots (182mph) then slowed to 147 knots (169mph) for three seconds before the crash – just 33 seconds after it began its takeoff.

Guzzetti explained that the wing design of the Bombardier CL-600 series made it more vulnerable than most planes to problems with ice.

The ‘supercritical wing’ design reduces drag during cruising, but make it more likely to stall and suffer a rapid loss of lift with any disturbed airflow across the front edge of the wing within seconds of the plane starting its climb off the runway.

This is consistent with a witness account of the plane lifting off the runway at Bangor Airport, then crashing back onto it and ‘exploding’.

Pilots have described the Bombardier CL-600 series’ wings as being ‘unforgiving’ and ‘very light in the pitch axis’.

The plane may also have had other issues before it crashed. 

A man commenting on the Bangor crash said his father, another pilot for Arnold & Itkin, flew the plane to Houston on Saturday night and reported issues with the flight data. 

‘Maybe false sensor readings. Take off from Houston was delayed due to weather and maintenance inspection,’ he wrote.

Shelby Kuyawa, 34, successful wine expert, is the fifth victim of a private jet crash at Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday

Event planner Shawna Collins was also killed in the private jet crash

‘He is shook up. He’s wondering if he could have explained the errors he was getting better. One of the pilots leaves behind an 18-month-old.’

Guzzetti said though ice on the wings was a popular candidate, there could be many other explanations including engine failure or pilot error.

‘As an investigator you don’t want to be biased towards one thing,’ he said.

Arnold, 46, planned the trip as part of her new luxury travel company Beyond, a source close to the passengers told the Daily Mail.

Beyond provides invitation-only curated travel experiences for the extremely wealthy, including stays at five-star resorts and exotic culinary adventures.

The group was on their way to tour a French chateau and other stunning locations for future intercontinental jaunts with their elite clients, the Daily Mail understands. 

It is unclear why the flight had to go ahead in such dangerous conditions, with that question likely to cause angst for the plane’s owners in coming months.