Federal investigators are working with state and local officials to identify who was on a private plane that crashed at the Bangor International Airport on Sunday, and they are in communication with the families of those aboard, the airport director said.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Bureau were delayed by poor weather conditions, but six members of the team had reached the airport by 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Director Jose Saavedra told reporters during a press conference.
“The scene has been under round-the-clock surveillance by the Bangor Police Department until their arrival. And (police) continue to be in place, securing the scene and providing support,” Saavedra said. “Unfortunately, the extreme weather conditions on the field are impacting the progress of the investigation.”
Saavedra said first responders who arrived on the scene Sunday night determined there were no survivors, but he declined to say whether anyone was able to access the plane’s interior to check.
The crash occurred at around 7:45 p.m., as a significant winter storm was sweeping over the airport. Photos and videos from the Sunday night scene showed a plume of black smoke rising from the overturned airplane, which was resting in a snowy field.
Officials have not formally identified anyone aboard the aircraft, which inverted and caught fire after attempting to take off during the storm. But media and Texas officials have named one of the pilots and four of the passengers.
With six fatalities, the incident is Maine’s deadliest passenger plane crash in decades.
The runway opening time has been extended to noon on Thursday. This is subject to change and additional information will be provided as it is available.
Officials planned to meet Wednesday evening to determine whether the airport can reopen to regular traffic by 9 a.m. Thursday, Saavedra said.
Local media in Texas identified Nick Mastrascusa, a father of three, as the fourth victim, citing a GoFundMe created Tuesday. His connection to the plane, owned by a Texas LLC that appears to be tied to a prominent law firm in Houston, was not immediately clear. The Press Herald has not independently verified his identity.
A Harris County, Texas, commissioner identified one of those aboard as Tara Arnold, of the law firm Arnold & Itkin. The firm shares an address with the LLC that owns the plane, according to FAA and Texas public records. A spokesperson for the firm has declined to comment on any connection to the aircraft.
Lakewood Church in Houston, run by Joel Osteen Ministries, confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that longtime employee Shawna Collins, 53, was among those killed.
“She oversaw our customer service department,” church spokesperson Donald Iloff Jr. told the AP. “Everybody loved her. She just had that kind of personality.”
ABC News and local outlets in Texas have identified the pilot as Jacob Hosmer. Family members of Collins and Hosmer have not responded to messages from Press Herald reporters.
Three of the passengers who have been publicly identified by friends and family were connected to Beyond, a luxury travel company founded by Arnold and her husband, Kurt. The company has luxury villas in Turks and Caicos and a $41 million glass-walled mansion in Telluride, Colorado.
Arnold, an attorney and mother of two who lived in Houston, said in a biography on the Beyond website that the business was born out of passion for travel and love for Turks and Caicos, where they acquired 18 acres for exclusive estates.
Mastrascusa, an award-winning chef and sommelier, was the executive vice president of hospitality. He was previously an executive chef at Discovery Land’s Kūkiʻo Golf and Beach Club on the Big Island of Hawaii, according to the Beyond website.
A GoFundMe set up by a friend for Mastrascusa’s family said he had three children and was known for his “kindness, dedication, generosity and friendship.”
Collins was the luxury event designer and experience curator for Beyond, according to the company website. It said she was known for bringing “an attention to detail not offered by others in the industry.”
On Wednesday, the Daily Mail reported another passenger as sommelier Shelby Kuyawa, citing an anonymous “source close to the passengers.” The Press Herald has not independently verified her identity.
A team of seven investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began to arrive in Bangor on Monday, a spokesperson said. Local officials told the Press Herald on Tuesday morning that the NTSB crew had not yet reached the airport.
Crews have documented the wreckage and are arranging its transportation to a secure facility, the NTSB said. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the crash and sent to the NTSB headquarters in Washington.
The NTSB is expected to release a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days, which will contain information gathered during the first stage of the investigation. A probable cause for the crash will not be released until the final report comes out, which should take 12-24 months, the spokesperson said.
Federal crews are “coordinating with the medical examiner’s office on victim recovery,” the NTSB said. Airport officials previously said that the scene was being preserved until the NTSB gives Bangor police permission to access the wreck.
Those who may have witnessed or have footage of the crash are encouraged to contact the NTSB at [email protected].
