A private aircraft carrying eight people crashed on takeoff on Sunday night at Maine’s Bangor international airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said – as that region and much of the country grappled with a huge winter storm.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed at about 7.45pm, and there was no immediate word on the conditions of those aboard.
According to federal authorities and air traffic controller recordings, the business jet at the center of the crash flipped over and caught fire as it tried to take off during a snowstorm.
The National Transportation Safety Board (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 arrive in a day or two.
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.
The FAA and the NTSB said they would continue investigating.
Bangor had undergone steady snowfall on Sunday, along with the rest of New England and many other parts of the country.
The airport issued a statement that emergency crews were on the scene at the airport, which was closed after what it described as an incident involving a single aircraft departing the airport.
Bangor’s international airport offers direct flights to cities such as Orlando, Florida; Washington DC; and Charlotte, North Carolina. It is located about 200 miles (320 km) north of Boston.
Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the US, halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the south-east. At least 14 people were reported dead from the conditions, including in Texas, New York City, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Louisiana and Kansas.
Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the US.
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 affected.
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.