{"id":139069,"date":"2026-01-26T23:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/139069\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:43:12","slug":"first-victim-in-deadly-maine-plane-crash-idd-as-wife-of-prominent-texas-law-firm-founder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/139069\/","title":{"rendered":"First victim in deadly Maine plane crash ID’d as wife of prominent Texas law firm founder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The attorney wife of an elite Texas law-firm partner was among six people killed when a private jet flipped over and burst into flames at a Maine airport<\/a> over the weekend \u2014 just after a voice over the radio said, \u201cLet there be light.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Tara Arnold was killed when the plane registered to her husband Kurt Arnold\u2019s personal-injury firm \u2014 Arnold & Itkin Law \u2014 crashed Sunday evening, with friends recalling her as a \u201cphenomenal person\u201d after her death was confirmed, according to WMTW.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am close friends with Kurt and Tara Arnold,\u201d said Lesley Briones, a local Texas lawmaker.<\/p>\n

Tara Arnold was killed when the plane registered to her husband Kurt Arnold\u2019s personal-injury firm \u2014 Arnold & Itkin Law \u2014 crashed Sunday evening in Bangor, Maine. Arnold & Itkin LLP<\/p>\n

The twin-engine Bombardier Challenger 600 was taking off from a snow-covered runway at Bangor International Airport when it crashed and exploded, killing everyone on board, officials said. @Turbinetraveler\/X<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart hurts for them and their children and their families. I worked at Arnold & Itkin for a time and so I know them well. This is just a tragedy and in particular Tara, she is just a phenomenal person, a bold leader and somebody who had a heart of service,\u201d Briones added.<\/p>\n

The plane \u2014 twin-engine Bombardier Challenger 600 \u2014 was taking off from a snow-covered runway at Bangor International Airport around 7:45 p.m. when it crashed back into the runway and exploded, killing everyone on board, officials said.<\/p>\n

A moment before take-off, a voice was eerily heard over the flight\u2019s radio communications saying, \u201cLet there be light,\u201d although it\u2019s unclear what that meant.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll traffic is stopped on the field!\u201d an air-traffic controller then quickly shouted.<\/p>\n

\u201cAircraft upside down<\/a>, we have a passenger aircraft upside down,\u201d a controller added as emergency crews rushed to the wreck.<\/p>\n

Arnold was part of a prominent Texas family known for multi-million-dollar donations to Lone Star State Republican causes, as well as to the Texas Longhorns football program. LinkedIn<\/p>\n

The crash occurred as Winter Storm Fern was battering Maine and much of the East Coast. FAA<\/p>\n

Arnold was part of a prominent Texas family known for multi-million-dollar donations to Lone Star State Republican causes, as well as to the Texas Longhorns football program.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear what role the ongoing Winter Storm Fern may have played in the wreck.<\/p>\n

Several other planes were taking off before the wreck, but the airport was also de-icing aircraft waiting on the tarmac.<\/p>\n

The Arnolds with their children. KNOWAutism Foundation<\/p>\n

Kurt and Tara Arnold with Kisha and Jason Itkin. Kurt and Jason founded the Arnold and Itkin Law Firm. Arnold & Itkin LLP<\/p>\n

The private jet had landed in Maine just after 6 p.m. after departing Houston, and had been sitting in the cold since then \u2014 and it remains unclear whether it had been a part of the de-icing procedures.<\/p>\n

Bombardier Challenger 600s have had a history of takeoff troubles during inclement cold-weather takeoffs \u2014 with small ice accumulations being known to affect the craft, according to aviation consultant Jeff Guzzetti.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the weather conditions at the time and the history of wind contamination with this particular aircraft, I\u2019m sure that\u2019s something the NTSB is going to look into immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was any kind of precipitation at all, freezing precipitation, they would have needed to clean off those wings before they took off,\u201d Guzzetti added.<\/p>\n

The wreck left the airport closed, and it is not expected to reopen until Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Ella Morrison<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The attorney wife of an elite Texas law-firm partner was among six people killed when a private jet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4544,21759,3003,27,29,28,734,12398],"class_list":{"0":"post-139069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-extreme-weather","9":"tag-maine","10":"tag-plane-crashes","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news","14":"tag-us-news","15":"tag-winter-storm"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}