Authorities have confirmed multiple casualties following a small plane crash at the Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday night. The airport remains closed due to the incident and treacherous weather conditions that may have caused the crash.
Private Jet Crash at Bangor
The tragic incident occurred around 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, during a snowstorm. Witnesses to the fatal crash report they saw a private jet attempting to take off when it crashed, flipped, and caught fire. The initial count of passengers on board was believed to be eight, with seven people killed. However, after further investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), airport officials, and local first responders agree that there were six people aboard, all of whom have unfortunately died.
“At approximately 7:45 p.m. last night, there was an accident involving a single GA aircraft that was departing from Bangor International Airport,” Airport Director Jose Saavedra said. The Bombardier CL600 aircraft landed at Bangor Airport to refuel before continuing its journey from Houston to Paris. Authorities confirm the crash occurred during takeoff. “Emergency protocols were immediately activated,” Saavedra said. “First responders were on scene in under a minute.”
Many flights taking off or landing throughout the Northeast were cancelled early Saturday morning due to anticipated unsafe weather conditions. Authorities and the FAA have yet to confirm if the weather at Bangor Airport played a role in the plane crash.
Since the winter storm had only just begun, they could not say for certain how much it contributed to the crash. Airport crews were doing their due diligence by clearing the runway and tarmac of snow and de-icing the planes, so the airport stayed open. According to Saavedra,
“The airport remained open. There were planes landing and departing around that time. And we had crews on site responding to the ongoing storm that we had at that time,” Saavedra said. Situations like this are never fully foreseeable or preventable, but things can happen in an instant. Reports on the passengers have not been released.
Witnesses to the Crash
Passengers in a plane next in line to take off witnessed the crash. Rob Dawson and his family were expecting to get in the air shortly after they de-iced. “I wasn’t really concerned about taking off. It didn’t seem like it was snowing too bad. They de-iced the plane,” Dawson said. “The de-icing didn’t last, so we went to get a second de-icing done. And that’s when that happened. We later found out that there was a plane upside down on the runway.”
Kathy Yergin, another passenger on board the same flight as Dawson and his family, said it was awful to witness. “The pilot came across and said there was an accident,” she said.
Investigation at Bangor Airport
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have sent investigators to the scene and are expected to examine weather conditions, mechanical failure, and pilot error to determine the root cause of the crash. Bangor International Airport remains closed until Tuesday afternoon. The FAA and NTSB are required to give airport crews the OK to remove the debris so it can be examined at a different location, so that runways can be reopened.
“When an accident such as this occurs, there are numerous agencies and assets, both state and federal, that must coordinate their respective portions of the investigation. With the large number of stakeholders involved, it is important that we don’t release any information until all parties have completed their work and can confirm the information being released,” the statement read from the Bangor Airport.
While the victims have not been officially identified, the jet is registered to a founding partner of one of Texas’ largest personal-injury law firms, Arnold & Itkin. The New York Post reported there was “chilling audio” capturing someone’s final words, saying, “Let there be light.” The person on the radio recording is unknown, and authorities do not know if it was a pilot or an air traffic controller. Moments after the crash, a different voice came onto the recording, shouting, “All traffic is stopped on the field!”
