Plane crashes while taking off leaving 6 dead as air traffic control audio revealed
Phoebe Tonks
Featured Image Credit: CBS News
Six people have been killed after a private jet crashed while taking off from Bangor International Airport in the US state of Maine.
The aircraft, a Bombadier Challenger 600, went down at around 7.45pm local time on Sunday January 25, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
Acknowledging the crash in a statement, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that a fatal incident had taken place and that they along with the FAA were investigating.
“The preliminary information we have is the plane crashed upon departing Bangor International Airport and experienced a post-crash fire,” the NTSB said.
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In an update by the FAA on Monday, it was initially reported that seven people had suffered fatal injuries and one was seriously injured.
Yet this was later corrected by the airport and Bangor police, who stated that only six people had been registered on board.
"According to the flight manifest there were six people on the flight. No one from the incident was transported to the hospital, and all on the flight are presumed to be deceased. The identities of the people on the flight are not being released publicly at this time, pending positive identification,” the statement reads.
There were reports of low visibility conditions in the area just prior to the crash, as Storm Fern swept in from the Northeast, bringing with it huge swathes of snow and icy temperatures.
According to audio from LiveATC.net obtained by CNN, two minutes after one controller cleared the private jet for take-off, a second controller was heard yelling: “All traffic is stopped on the field! All traffic is stopped on the field!”
Shortly afterwards a controller stated: “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down.”
Before the crash, pilots of two other departing planes discussed concerns with the wintry conditions to air traffic control.
Pilots of an Allegiant Air Flight 976 said their plane had failed a pre-takeoff check to ensure their wings were not covered in snow and ice.
The pilots of the other plane, belonging to Breeze Airways, told them: "This is stupid."
The pilots of the Allegiant plane agreed conditions were 'not looking good'.
Images from the scene of the crash revealed the extent of the damage, with smoke and flames engulfing the runway.
Bangor International Airport said following the incident that it had closed to all traffic and that emergency crews were responding.
The incident remains under investigation, and officials have not released the identities of the victims.
More than 11,000 flights cancelled and nearly 5,500 delayed across the US on Sunday as a result of the historic storm sweeping the nation, according to tracker FlightAware.
Airports in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those affected.
Between 10 and 16 inches of snow was forecast to accumulate in Bangor as of Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
The fatal tragedy is the latest in a bleak January for aviation travel, which has so far seen nine fatal crashes and 37 non-fatal incidents take place around the world in the first few weeks of 2026.
It also comes at a time of increasing safety concerns around flying, following 1,416 aviation accidents last year, 267 of which were fatal.