US: Plane crashes during take-off at Maine’s Bangor Airport

Representational Image

A Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed while taking off from Bangor International Airport in Maine with eight people onboard the US Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday (local time).

The crash took place on Sunday (local time) and in a post on X, FAA said that the information was preliminary and subject to change.

"A Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed as it was taking off from Bangor International Airport in Maine around 7:45 p.m local time on Sunday, Jan. 25. Eight people were on board. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. This information is preliminary and subject to change", FAA wrote on X.

In a statement, the airport said emergency crews responded to the incident at around 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time (0045 GMT Monday), following which flight operations were temporarily suspended. According to local media, the extent of injuries, if any, was still being assessed.

The aircraft involved was identified as a Bombardier Challenger 650. Authorities said the cause of the crash is under investigation. The incident occurred as a major snowstorm swept across the northeastern United States, with sub-freezing temperatures, light snowfall and poor visibility reported in the region at the time.

The crash comes amid a massive winter storm that has disrupted life across large parts of the United States. Officials said the storm has knocked out power to more than one million customers, disrupted tens of thousands of flights and caused multiple fatalities as severe cold and snow moved from the South to the Northeast.

Authorities in dozens of states reported widespread power outages as freezing rain and heavy snowfall brought down trees and power lines, particularly across the South and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Data from PowerOutage.com showed that over one million customers were without electricity at peak outage levels, with Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Georgia among the worst affected.

In Tennessee alone, more than 300,000 customers remain without power as ice accumulation continues to damage trees and utility infrastructure. Nashville Electric Service warned that outages could last several days or longer, citing hazardous conditions for repair crews.

Air travel across the country remains severely affected, with more than 30,000 flights disrupted since Friday, including over 18,000 cancellations. Several major airports have been forced to halt or sharply curtail operations, with airlines cancelling nearly all flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, while LaGuardia Airport and other major hubs continue to face significant disruptions.