6 people died in crash of private jet in snowstorm, airport officials say

BANGOR, Maine (AP/WABI) - Airport officials in Maine said six people were killed when a private business jet crashed in a snowstorm at Bangor International Airport.

“According to the flight manifest there were six people on the flight. No one from the incident was transported to the hospital, and all on the flight are presumed to be deceased,” Bangor Police Sgt. Jeremy Brock said in a statement.

Initially, the Federal Aviation Administration said seven people died and one member of the crew survived, but a federal official said those numbers were preliminary and subject to change.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed on takeoff at around 7:45 p.m. Sunday night 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.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board 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 arrived.

An audio recording of air traffic controllers includes someone 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, airport director Jose Saavedra said.

“The identities of the people on the flight are not being released publicly at this time, pending positive identification,” Brock added.

Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina. It is located about 200 miles north of Boston.

The airport was closed shortly after the crash and will remain closed until at least noon Wednesday.

Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the U.S., halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.

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 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 aircharterservice.com.

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Editor’s note: The Federal Aviation Administration initially reported seven fatalities, but said the information was subject to change. Airport officials have since confirmed six deaths.