The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said seven individuals lost their lives and one crew member survived with serious injuries after a private business jet crashed during a snowstorm at Bangor International Airport in Maine.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 jet was carrying eight persons when it crashed during takeoff at around 7:45 pm on Sunday. The incident occurred as New England and large parts of the US were hit by a powerful winter storm.
Bangor International Airport, located about 200 miles north of Boston, was shut down following the crash. Heavy snowfall was reported at the time, similar to weather conditions across many other regions.
The jet was registered to a corporation based in Houston, Texas, which shares an address with the personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers. One of the company’s founding partners is listed as the registered agent of the company which owns the aircraft.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an inquiry. The NTSB said initial findings suggest the plane crashed shortly after departure and caught fire. It added that no further details would be released until investigators reach the site in the coming days.
The NTSB clarified that it does not release information about victims, as that responsibility lies with local authorities. However, airport director Jose Saavedra declined to comment on the victims during a press conference on Monday, saying he was waiting for guidance from federal agencies.
An audio recording from air traffic control captured someone saying, “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down,” around 45 seconds after the plane was cleared for takeoff. Saavedra said first responders reached the crash site in less than a minute.
Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to destinations such as Orlando, Washington DC and Charlotte. The airport is located roughly 320 kilometres north of Boston. It was closed soon after the crash and is expected to remain shut until at least noon on Wednesday.
The crash occurred as New England and several other regions dealt with a major winter storm. Saavedra said Bangor had been experiencing steady snowfall on Sunday, though aircraft were still landing and taking off around the time of the accident.
According to the National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, the airport recorded nearly 10 inches of snow in total. However, snowfall had only just begun when the plane crashed.
“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.” Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the US, halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.
Air travel across the US was heavily impacted. Flight tracking website FlightAware reported that around 12,000 flights were cancelled on Sunday, while nearly 20,000 were delayed. Airports in cities such as Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina were among those affected.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 is a wide-body business jet designed to carry between nine and 11 passengers. Introduced in 1980, it was the first private jet to feature a “walk-about cabin” and continues to be widely used for charter services, according to Air Charter Service.
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