This image taken from video provided by WABI television, emergency cervices work on a scene of the Bombardier Challenger 600 crash at the Bangor Airport in Maine, late on January 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says seven people were killed and a crew member survived with serious injuries when a private business jet crashed in a snowstorm at Maine’s Bangor International Airport.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 carrying eight people crashed on takeoff at around 7:45 p.m. Sunday (January 25, 2026) night as New England and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm.
The airport, about 321 km (200 miles) north of Boston, shut down after the crash. Snowfall was heavy at the time, as it was in many other parts of the country.
The jet was registered to a corporation that shares the same address in Houston, Texas as the personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers, and one of the law firm’s founding partners is listed as the registered agent for the company that owns the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) 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 arrive in a day or two.
The NTSB said it has no role in the release of information about victims and that such information is handled by local authorities. But airport director Jose Saavedra refused to comment, saying at a news conference Monday (January 26, 2026) that he was “awaiting guidance and support from federal partners”.
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, Mr. Saavedra said.
Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, DC, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and is located about 320 km north of Boston. It was closed shortly after the crash and will remain closed until at least noon Wednesday (January 28, 2026).
The crash happened as New England and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm. Bangor had undergone steady snowfall Sunday (January 25, 2026), though planes were landing and departing around the time of the crash, Mr. Saavedra said.
The National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, said the airport received nearly 10 inches of snow in total, though the snowfall was just beginning at the time of the crash.
“We have crews on site that respond to weather storms on a regular basis,” he said. “This is normal for us to respond to weather events.”
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 Southeast.
Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the U.S. Some 12,000 flights were cancelled Sunday (January 25, 2026) 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.
Published – January 26, 2026 10:34 pm IST
