Confusion swirls around fatal Bangor plane crash

[mountaineer]

Confusion swirls around fatal Bangor plane crash
 by Marie Weidmayer and Annie Rupertus
Jan. 26, 2026

Clashing reports of the number of people killed in a plane crash in Bangor and whether there were any survivors sowed confusion during the first 20 hours of the investigation into the city’s deadliest airplane disaster.
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Six people are presumed dead in Sunday night’s crash at the Bangor International Airport, according to Bangor police. The victims are still being identified, police spokesperson Jeremy Brock said.

The jet flipped over and caught fire as it was taking off around 7:45 p.m., according to federal authorities and air traffic controller recordings.

But little else is known about the fatal event, including what caused it and who was on board. Though experts say it’s not unusual to not have these answers at this point in an investigation, the complete lack of information being shared by Bangor officials stands in stark contrast to the last fatal plane crash in the city. ...

Bangor Daily News

[mountaineer]

It flipped over on the runway as it was taking off. One of the strange things was the pilot's comment, "Let there be light" immediately before the crash. Another strange thing is that this jet was owned by an anti-ICE, pro-Democrat law firm.

https://twitter.com/BuzzPatterson/status/2015842865210102123

[mountaineer]

Officials still aren't releasing info. Even the number of people on board hasn't been confirmed.

Keli Rabon
@KeliRabon
*Fatal Plane Crash* A private jet owned by Arnold & Itkin — a Houston law firm known for representing families after catastrophic injuries and wrongful deaths — somehow ended up upside down and in flames last night after stopping to refuel in Bangor, Maine.

I’m told by multiple sources here in HTX: the jet was carrying Mrs. Arnold (a lawyer at the firm & wife of the founding partner) and her friends on a girls’ trip to France. (Cont…)

In the ATC audio I’m sharing, you can hear an unidentified voice say “let there be light” — not standard phraseology, not proper identification — what seems like a split second before disaster. 😧
The FlightAware trace I posted in the prior tweet shows a plane that barely, if ever, lifts before disaster. How did it flip? So many questions.

TBH, I was rattled by this crash when I started my livestream last night & I only had a few details then.

(3/3) Even the basic facts don’t line up: FAA said 7 dead, 1 survivor; Bangor officials now say the manifest lists 6 on board, all 6 presumed dead. My contacts said 5 passengers, 3 crew members.

For a firm that’s been in court over other preventable tragedies, including *just 2 months ago* filing Camp Mystic cases for Texas families involved in the July 4th Floods, every contradiction here lands heavily.

For the families who lost loved ones in this crash, and for those in other cases Arnold & Itkin has taken on, every unanswered question is another layer of pain. Obviously, no plane crash is acceptable. But something about this one feels especially dark to me.
5:14 PM · Jan 26, 2026

As noted, the law firm that owned the jet is not just a personal injury firm but a big funder of leftist causes.

[Kamaji]

Meh.   A leftist personal injury firm suffers some karma.  Too bad for for any innocents.

[Wingnut]

They were de-iced.

[verga]

[mountaineer]

They've finally identified three of the victims (tenatively, anyway): Tara Arnold, a lawyer and wife of law firm co-founder Kurt Arnold; pilot Jacob Hosmer; and event planner Shawna Collins. This reportedly was a business trip to Paris.

The NY Post article states the firm donated to Republicans, but that seems unlikely, given what else we've read and the usual leanings of personal injury lawyers. I've never known a PI lawyer who wasn't a big Democrat donor.

[Free Vulcan]

Meh.   A leftist personal injury firm suffers some karma.  Too bad for for any innocents.

IKR. Feel for their families but doing the work of Evil isn't going to garner sympathy from me.

[mountaineer]

This guy analyzes the available data, and appears to conclude there may have been too much time between de-icing and the attempted departure, so that ice re-formed on the wings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoO8WeXJvTo