Private jet crashes at US Maine airport amid snowstorm
San Francisco, Jan 26 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A private business jet carrying eight people crashed during takeoff at Bangor airport in the US state of Maine, with no casualties reported.
Bangor International Airport said in a statement that emergency crews responded to the accident at around 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time (0045 GMT Monday), and the airport has been closed temporarily, Xinhua news agency reported.
Citing a source briefed on the accident, local media reported that the extent of injuries remains unknown. The aircraft involved was identified as a Bombardier Challenger 650 business jet.
The cause of the accident was under investigation. The crash occurred as a major snowstorm moved through the northeastern United States, with temperatures in Maine well below freezing, light snow and very low visibility at the time.
A massive winter storm in the US has knocked out power to over a million, disrupted tens of thousands of flights, and left several dead as dangerous cold and snow swept from the South to the Northeast, officials said.
Authorities across dozens of states reported widespread outages as freezing rain and heavy snow brought down trees and power lines, particularly across the South and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. PowerOutage.com data showed more than 1,000,000 customers without electricity at peak levels, with Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia among the hardest hit.
In Tennessee, the situation has become dire: more than 300,000 customers are powerless as ice crushes trees and utility poles. Nashville Electric Service warns that outages could persist for days or longer, with crews facing extreme danger as they access and repair damaged infrastructure.
The storm continues to paralyze air travel nationwide. More than 30,000 flights have been thrown into chaos since Friday, with over 18,000 cancellations, as major airports are forced to halt or severely restrict operations. Airlines have wiped out nearly all flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National, while LaGuardia and other key hubs remain crippled or shut down.
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