Seven people were killed and a crew member suffered serious injuries when a private business jet crashed in a snowstorm at Maine’s Bangor International Airport Sunday night, according to the Federal Aviation Administration
The Bombardier Challenger 600 came down during take-off at about 7:45 p.m. during a storm that engulfed much of the U.S., according to the FAA.
Much of the eastern half of the U.S. was hit by a powerful winter storm over the weekend, bringing a mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow. The weather system severely disrupted both air and road travel and left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without electricity, particularly across the southeastern states.
A government official briefed on the incident said the aircraft was engulfed in flames after the crash. It had flown to Maine from Texas prior to the accident, Reuters reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Preliminary information shows the plane crashed upon departure and experienced a post-crash fire, but that it would have no further statement until after investigators arrive, according to the NTSB.
The NTSB said it has no role in the release of information about victims and that such information is handled by local authorities. But airport director Jose Saavedra refused to comment, saying at a news conference Monday that he was “awaiting guidance and support from federal partners.”
Audio obtained from LiveATC.net captures exchanges between controllers and pilots discussing poor visibility and the need for de-icing, although it is unclear which aircraft were involved in those conversations.
One controller is heard authorizing the pilot to depart from Runway 33. Less than two minutes later, the same frequency carries an urgent message: “All traffic is stopped on the field!”
Soon after, another controller reports the severity of the situation, saying: “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down,” about 45 seconds after a plane was cleared for takeoff. First responders arrived less than a minute later, Saavedra said.
The jet was registered to a corporation that shares the same address in Houston as personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers, and one of the law firm’s founding partners is listed as the registered agent for the company that owns the plane.
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.
“We have crews on site that respond to weather storms on a regular basis,” he said. “This is normal for us to respond to weather events.”
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, a wide-bodied business jet commonly used for private and charter flights, is typically configured to carry between nine and 11 passengers. Introduced in 1980, it was the first private jet designed with a so-called “walk-about cabin” and continues to be widely used in the charter market, according to aircharterservice.com.
Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina, and is located about 200 miles north of Boston.
It was closed shortly after the crash and will remain closed until at least noon Wednesday.
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