The business jet that crashed while trying to take off in a snowstorm in Maine and killed at least a half dozen people is a plane model that has a history of problems with crashes caused by ice buildup on the wings.
The Bombardier Challenger 600 flipped over and burned on takeoff at Bangor International Airport around 7.45pm Sunday night (local time) as the nation’s massive winter storm was beginning to reach the area.
The airport said Monday afternoon that there were six people aboard the flight, according to the manifest, and all of them died.
Earlier in the day, the Federal Aviation Administration said seven people died, and one member of the crew survived, but a spokesman said those numbers were preliminary and subject to change. No one was taken to a hospital, the airport said.
Snowfall was heavy at the time of the crash in many other parts of the country, but accumulation had just started in Bangor, and other planes had been taking off safely.
This particular plane model “has a history of problems with icing on takeoff” that has caused previous crashes, aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said.
Even a little bit of ice on the wings can cause serious problems, so this plane would have needed to be deiced before takeoff, the former federal crash investigator said. It’s not clear when or if that was done.
The crash victims have not been officially identified
The identities of those onboard won’t be released publicly until they can be confirmed, officials said.
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 international airport in Bangor, about 320 kilometres north of Boston, is one of the closest in the US to Europe and is often used to refuel private jets flying overseas.
FTA, NTSB investigators will examine the wreckage
The airport, about 200 miles north of Boston, shut down after the crash and will remain closed at least until Wednesday so the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators can examine and remove the wreckage.
No cause has been determined. 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 investigation will likely take more than a year.
An audio recording of air traffic controllers posted by www.LiveATC.net 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, airport director Jose Saavedra said.
Crash occurred as major storm hit New England
The airport's longstanding joint use agreement with the Maine Air National Guard means “runways are ready rain or shine – or snow,” an airport website says, under the phrase: “A Little Snow Doesn’t Scare Us.”
The National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine, said the airport eventually received nearly 25 centimetres, but the snowfall was just beginning at the time of the crash, falling light but steady and accumulating just about a tenth of an inch between midnight and 7pm Sunday.
The service said wind speeds were about 16km/h, which is not out of the ordinary.
Other planes had been landing and departing around the time of the crash, Saavedra said.
“We have crews on site that respond to weather storms on a regular basis,” Saavedra said. “This is normal for us to respond to weather events.”
Jet has history of problems with ice
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.
The plane had just landed at Bangor from Houston at 6.09pm, according to FlightRadar24.com, so it would have likely been sitting outside in the snow for more than an hour before it tried to take off again.
And it wouldn't have taken long for ice to start building up on the wings — particularly if the plane was refuelled with cold jet fuel that's stored in wing tanks, a factor the NTSB has cited in previous crashes.
Airport officials said planes were being deiced at the airport at the time of the crash, but it wasn't immediately clear when or if this particular plane was treated.
“Given the weather conditions at the time, and the history of wind contamination with this particular aircraft, I’m sure that’s something the NTSB is going to look into immediately,” Guzzetti said.
“If there was any kind of precipitation at all, freezing precipitation, they would have needed to clean off those wings before they took off."
Bombardier and the FAA recommended new procedures after the previous crashes to ensure these planes' wings are free of ice, and Guzzetti said there have not been many crashes related to this problem in the last few years.
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