Aircraft crashed on takeoff at Bangor airport as visibility diminished amid winter storm, leading to airport shutdown
Six people died when a business jet crashed during takeoff as a snowstorm moved in and visibility diminished at Maine’s Bangor international airport on Sunday night, according to officials.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 carrying the dead crashed on takeoff at about 7.45pm on Sunday night as Bangor, the rest of the New England region, and much of the country grappled with a deadly, major winter storm. The airport, about 200 miles (320km) north of Boston, shut down after the crash.
Snowfall was heavy at the time in many other parts of the country.
Experts say the weather and questions about whether ice accumulating on the wings kept the plane from getting airborne – as has happened at least twice before on that plane model – will likely be an initial focus by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). However, the agency will consider all possible factors.
The jet was registered to a corporation that shares the same address in Houston, Texas, as the personal injury law firm Arnold & 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 Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB are investigating. The NTSB said 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 in a day or two.
Earlier in the day, the FAA said seven people died and one member of the crew survived. But a spokesperson said those numbers were preliminary and subject to change. The airport then said that there were six people aboard, according to the flight manifest – all of them died, and no one was taken to a hospital.
An audio recording of air traffic controllers includes someone saying: “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down.” That was about 45 seconds after a plane was cleared for takeoff. First responders arrived less than a minute later, Saavedra said.
Bangor international airport offers direct flights to cities such as Orlando, Florida; Washington DC; and Charlotte, North Carolina. It was expected to remain closed until at least noon on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Caribou, Maine, said the airport received nearly 10in (25cm) of snow in total, though the snowfall was just starting to pick up at the time of the crash. About a tenth of an inch of snow fell between midnight and 7pm on 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 US, halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the south-east. At least 15 people were reported dead from the conditions, including in Texas, New York City, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Louisiana and Kansas.
Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the US. Nearly 12,000 US flights were canceled on Sunday and nearly more than 6,000 were delayed, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those affected.
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 aircharterserviceusa.com.
The model “has a history of problems with icing on takeoff” that caused previous deadly crashes in Birmingham, England; and Montrose, Colorado, more than 20 years ago, aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said. Even a little bit of ice on the wings can cause serious problems, so careful inspections and de-icing are a crucial step before takeoff, the former federal crash investigator said. There is a time limit on how long de-icing remains effective; it could last only about 20 minutes.
The airport in Bangor is by far the largest 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.”
News
HIS FINAL MOMENTS IN THE BATHROOM WERE FAR WORSE THAN ANYONE KNEW: New autopsy details involving Kyle Busch are now drawing intense public attention… 👇👇
The symptoms were terrifying. Shortness of breath.Overheating.Coughing up blood.Then collapse. In the final hours before Kyle Busch’s death, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was reportedly still close to the world that had defined his life: race preparation, training, and competition. But behind the routine, his body was fighting an illness that moved faster than […]
THE IMAGE HIS FAMILY CAN’T STOP LOOKING AT: Before his sepsis diagnosis turned fatal, Kyle Busch left a final photo — and one medical instruction that changed everything… 👇👇
The final family photo was supposed to be ordinary. Kyle Busch, his wife Samantha, and their children, Brexton and Lennix, were still living inside the familiar rhythm of racing life: birthdays, family posts, practice schedules, and the next weekend at the track. Then the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was gone. Busch died on May […]
WHAT HE TOLD THE DOCTOR BEFORE HIS WIFE KNEW: New details surrounding Kyle Busch’s final hospital admission suggest he may have sensed how serious things had become… 👇👇
The final family photo was supposed to be ordinary. Kyle Busch, his wife Samantha, and their children, Brexton and Lennix, were still living inside the familiar rhythm of racing life: birthdays, family posts, practice schedules, and the next weekend at the track. Then the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was gone. Busch died on May […]
I WENT TO SCOLD MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW… BUT I LEFT ASHAMED OF MY OWN SON
I looked up slowly. Pooja was staring at me like a woman waiting for a sentence. And Rohan, my son, was not looking at his wife. He was looking at the insurance amount. ₹75 lakh. For one second, I heard nothing. Not the children coughing. Not the pressure cooker hissing. Not the cricket match […]
THE BENEFICIARY NO ONE EXPECTED: Fans are reacting emotionally after claims emerged that 80% of Kyle Busch’s fortune may not be going to his wife and children… 👇👇
By Sports Desk The rumor spread quickly because it sounded like the kind of final twist fans could not ignore. Kyle Busch’s will had allegedly been revealed.Eighty percent of his assets, the claim said, would not go to his wife Samantha or their children, Brexton and Lennix.Instead, the money had supposedly been directed somewhere else. […]
“THAT CALL SAID EVERYTHING”: A leaked prison conversation tied to Mackenzie Shirilla is now reigniting backlash after remarks many viewed as self-focused and deeply disturbing… 👇👇
By U.S. Crime Desk Mackenzie Shirilla tried to frame prison as something she did not belong in. But newly surfaced jailhouse calls have reopened the public debate around her remorse, her self-image, and the way she spoke about the life she lost after the crash that killed Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. The Ohio woman, […]
End of content
No more pages to load
