The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed a tragic incident at Bangor International Airport in Maine, where a business jet crash resulted in the deaths of seven individuals. A crew member survived but sustained serious injuries. The crash occurred amid a snowstorm, adding to the challenges faced by first responders.
The aircraft involved was a Bombardier Challenger 600, which carried eight people. It crashed during takeoff at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Sunday evening. This accident coincided with a significant winter storm affecting New England and other parts of the country. While snow was falling heavily elsewhere, Bangor had just begun to see accumulation, and other flights had been departing without incident.
Ownership of the jet is linked to a corporation sharing an address with Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers, a personal injury law firm based in Houston, Texas. One of the founding partners of the firm is listed as the registered agent for the corporation owning the plane.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting investigations into the crash. Preliminary findings suggest the plane encountered a fire after crashing on departure. However, the NTSB has stated they will refrain from further comments until their investigators arrive on the scene in the coming days.
Responsibility for releasing information about the victims lies with local authorities, according to the NTSB. During a Monday news conference, airport director Jose Saavedra declined to provide details, citing the need for guidance from federal agencies.
Audio from air traffic control captured a voice reporting, “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down,” approximately 45 seconds after takeoff clearance was given. Saavedra mentioned that first responders reached the scene in under a minute following this alert.
Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina, and is located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Boston. It was closed shortly after the crash and will remain closed until at least noon Wednesday.
The crash happened as New England and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm. Bangor had undergone steady snowfall Sunday, though planes were landing and departing around the time of the crash, Saavedra said.
The National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, said the airport received nearly 10 inches of snow in total, though the snowfall was just beginning at the time of the crash. About a tenth of an inch of snow fell between midnight and 7 p.m. Sunday, and snowfall was light but steady at the time, the service said.
“We have crews on site that respond to weather storms on a regular basis,” Saavedra said. “This is normal for us to respond to weather events.”
Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the U.S., halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.
Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the U.S. Some 12,000 flights were canceled Sunday and nearly 20,000 were delayed, according to the flight tracker flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those impacted.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 is a wide-bodied business jet configured for nine to 11 passengers. It was launched in 1980 as the first private jet with a “walk-about cabin” and remains a popular charter option, according to aircharterservice.com.
The airport in Bangor is by far the largest city in Maine’s northern and eastern reaches. Its longstanding joint use agreement with the Maine Air National Guard means “runways are ready rain or shine – or snow,” an airport website says, under the phrase: “A Little Snow Doesn’t Scare Us.”
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