[Editor’s note: An update to this story, including conflicting fatality/injury count released by local authorities, has been published, here]
A Bombardier Challenger 600 carrying eight people crashed while taking off from Bangor International Airport in Maine Sunday evening. The Houston-registered aircraft went down around 7:45 p.m. local time as it departed the airport. According to a Jan. 26 FAA Accident and Incident Notification, seven occupants died in the crash, while one member of the flight crew sustained serious injuries.
We are following reports of a crash at Bangor Airport in Maine involving a Bombardier Challenger 650. ADS-B data indicates the aircraft was attempting to depart following an arrival from Houston. https://t.co/oL0pTQLGjJ pic.twitter.com/5x4CsJdqNd
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 26, 2026
Bangor International Airport confirmed Monday that the crash involved a single departing Bombardier Challenger 600 and that National Transportation Safety Board investigators were expected to arrive later in the day. Authorities opened an emergency operations center and closed the airport, which is expected to remain closed for at least another 24 hours.
The Challenger 600 crash occurred during a major winter storm that brought heavy snow and reduced visibility to the Bangor area. Snow had been falling for about two hours prior to the crash, and visibility reduced to three-quarters of a mile and a low ceiling reported at 1,100 feet. CNN reported that audio recordings captured controllers and pilots discussing low visibility and deicing before the aircraft was cleared for takeoff, followed minutes later by a controller stating that a passenger aircraft was “upside down.”
A government official briefed on the incident told Reuters there was a significant fire after the Challenger 600 crash.
