Seven people were killed when a private jet crashed while attempting to take off from a Maine airport Sunday during the snowstorm.
The victims in the wreck at Bangor International Airport were not publicly identified. The plane was carrying eight people, and one person survived the fiery crash, authorities said. The person was identified only as a crew member who suffered serious injuries.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 was trying to take off from Bangor around 7:45 p.m. but crashed on the runway and burst into flames, authorities said. The airport was closed afterward.
Bangor received 8-10 inches of snow on Sunday into Monday, but the airport continued operating until the crash.
“All traffic is stopped on the field! All traffic is stopped on the field!” an air traffic controller can be heard saying about two minutes after the jet was cleared for takeoff. Another adds shortly afterward, “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down.”
The aircraft was registered to a corporation in Houston, which shares an address with the law firm Arnold & Itkin LLP, according to Houston Public Media. The firm is a well-known personal injury group in the city, but they did not immediately comment on the crash.
More than 11,000 flights across the U.S. were canceled on Sunday due to the storm, including more than 2,000 into and out of the New York area and hundreds more at other northeast hubs.
With News Wire Services
