6 people presumed dead in Maine plane crash, Bangor airport says

All six people on a Paris-bound private jet that crashed in Bangor, Maine, while attempting to depart in a snowstorm on Sunday are presumed dead, airport officials said.

A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration initially said seven people were killed and one person was seriously injured but the agency later told CNN it is deferring to the airport about the number of people on board.

It was not immediately clear what caused the discrepancy in accounts.

The Bangor International Airport will remain closed until at least noon Wednesday, according to a Facebook post from the airport.

The plane, a Bombardier Challenger 650 business jet, was registered to a limited liability corporation in Houston, according to federal records.

Open-source flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange shows the private jet departed Houston’s Hobby Airport around 2:20 p.m. CST and arrived at Bangor International Airport around 6:10 p.m. EST.

The private jet was cleared by Bangor controllers for a trans-Atlantic flight to Paris-Vatry Airport in France, according to air traffic control recordings archived by LiveATC.net,

The plane taxied to a designated area at Bangor International Airport for deicing.

The crash happened as a strong snowstorm tore through the Northeast. Temperatures were well below freezing in Maine, with light snow causing very low visibility.

Audio indicates Bangor’s air traffic control tower cleared the flight, registered N10KJ, for takeoff on Runway 33.

Only two minutes later, a controller urgently radios: “All traffic is stopped on the field! All traffic is stopped on the field!” Moments afterward, an unidentified voice is heard saying, “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down.”

The FAA report says the aircraft “crashed under unknown circumstances on departure, came to rest inverted, and caught fire.”

Before the crash, air traffic control audio also captured pilots of two other departing airliners discussing concerns about winter conditions at Bangor’s airport around the time of the crash.

Pilots of Allegiant Air Flight 976 told the pilots of a Breeze Airways flight they had failed a pre-takeoff check to ensure their wings were free of snow and ice. In the exchange, the Breeze pilots said their crew was being pressured to depart, adding, “I keep telling them this is stupid,” while Allegiant responded conditions were “not looking good” and they might end up staying overnight.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into what caused the crash.

NTSB investigators plan to travel to Bangor but due to the weather, it is difficult to predict when it will be, a spokesperson told CNN Monday morning. However, Jose Saavedra, the Bangor airport director, told reporters at a news conference Monday the NTSB said its expects to “have a team of investigators on site” later in the afternoon.

The airport did not provide further detail on the incident, citing the need to wait for investigators to arrive.