Private jet carrying 8 crashes at Maine airport
A private jet carrying eight people crashed during takeoff from the Bangor International Airport in Maine on the evening of Jan. 25, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FAA told USA Today that a Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed as it was taking off from the airport at around 4:45 p.m. local time on Sunday. Eight people were on board the aircraft.
“An incident at the airport is under investigation,” the Bangor International Airport said in a Facebook post shortly before 5:30 p.m. PST. “First responders are on scene and assessing the situation.”
The Bangor Police Department confirmed that the incident involved a single aircraft that was departing from the airport. At around 7:30 p.m. PST, police said in a news release that first responders were still at the scene and “are expected to be actively working the site for several more hours before any additional information is available.”
No additional details were immediately provided, but the airport said the runway was closed and urged the public to avoid the area. The airport was closed and police noted that there were flight cancellations.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident. Maine State Police are assisting local authorities, a spokesperson said.
Aircraft arrived in Maine after flight from Texas
A government official who was briefed on the incident told Reuters there was a significant fire after the crash and that the plane had arrived in Maine following a flight from Texas.
The aviation-tracking website FlightRadar24 posted on X that it was following reports of a plane crash at Bangor. FlightRadar24 reported that data indicated the aircraft was attempting to depart from the airport after arriving from Houston.
The company listed as the aircraft’s registered owner shares a Houston address with Arnold & Itkin, a personal injury law firm. FAA records show the aircraft went into service in April 2020.
Bangor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in the city of Bangor, about 129 miles northeast of Portland. The airport has a single runway.
Plane crash occurs during massive winter storm
The incident came amid a fierce winter storm that has brought heavy snow and frigid temperatures to the Northeast. A winter storm warning for Bangor, the state’s third-largest city, remained in effect until early Jan. 27, according to the National Weather Service.
“A Winter Storm Warning for snow means severe winter weather conditions will make travel extremely dangerous,” the weather service said.
AccuWeather said in statement that at the time of the plane crash, “snow from the dangerous winter storm had begun about 2 hours prior, with conditions intensifying and quickly worsening.”
Visibility was three-fourths of a mile with a low ceiling of 1,100 feet, according to AccuWeather. The temperature was around 2 to 3 degrees with sustained winds of about 5 to 10 mph from the northeast.
This is a developing story.