Six people are presumed dead after a private jet crashed during takeoff at Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday night, the airport said Monday.
The FAA identified the aircraft as a Bombardier Challenger 600 and said the crash occurred at 7:45 p.m. The jet “came to rest inverted and caught on fire,” the agency said in a preliminary notice Monday describing the incident. The FAA is investigating the crash alongside the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to the flight manifest, there were six people onboard, the airport said in a statement. No one was transported to the hospital, it continued, and everyone on the flight is presumed dead. The identities of those killed are not being released pending identification, the statement said.
An earlier notice from the FAA said eight people were onboard and seven of them, all passengers, were killed. Such information is “preliminary and subject to change,” an FAA spokesman said in an email.
The aircraft’s registered owner is KTKJ Challenger, a Houston-based company that shares an address with Texas law firm Arnold & Itkin.
Bangor International Airport said that it was closed after the crash and that emergency crews were responding. Members of the public were asked to avoid the area.
While the cause of the crash was not immediately clear, it came as a colossal winter storm barreled across a large swath of the nation, including Maine — bringing snow, sleet and ice along with power outages, school closures and frigid temperatures.
Bangor is under a winter storm warning until Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Federal investigators were unable to reach the crash site Sunday night due to the weather, the Bangor Daily News reported.
“Certainly, the weather is challenging,” Bangor police spokesman Jeremy Brock told local media Sunday night. “I’m sure it will continue to be a challenge throughout the night and into the day tomorrow.
correctionA previous version of this article, citing information from the FAA, said seven people were killed and one was injured in the plane crash. The Bangor airport, however, said only six people were on board and all were presumed dead. The FAA said its earlier notice was based on preliminary information and subject to change.
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