NTSB report cites deicing delay in deadly Maine jet crash

Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY Sat, March 7, 2026 at 1:50 AM UTC

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The deadly Jan. 25 crash of a private jet in Bangor, Maine, happened after the luxury craft failed to depart within recommended time frames after deicing for the given weather conditions, according to a preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board.

All six people on board died in the fiery crash, which occurred as the Bombardier CL-650 took off from the Bangor International Airport’s single runway enroute to France during a fierce winter storm.

FAA recommendations for the given conditions called for departure no more than 9 minutes after deicing, but the jet did not leave for nearly 17 minutes, the report said.

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The jet, operated by a Houston law firm, had departed Texas with a stop in Bangor, about 130 miles northeast of Portland, for fuel and deicing services, authorities said.

According to AccuWeather, visibility at the time of the crash was about three-fourths of a mile with a low ceiling of 1,100 feet.

According to the NTSB, light snow had been reported but should have been categorized as moderate given the nighttime visibility and temperatures of about 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Those conditions specified a maximum holdover period of nine minutes from the start of the anti-ice application.

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However, the report said the plane did not depart until nearly 16 minutes after the deicing process had begun at nearly 7:28 p.m. and 13 minutes after application of anti-ice fluid concluded.

The report said the plane sat on the deice pad for nearly five minutes before it left. By then, eight minutes had passed since the deicing application had begun, it said.

A Bombardier CL-600 type aircraft takes off from Ferihegy Airport in Budapest on August 3, 2009.

A review of the plane’s cockpit voice recorder indicated the flight crew discussed holdover times while taxiing to the runway, with the pilot saying it was “standard” to have 14 to 18 minutes but that if the wait was more than 30 minutes, the plane would return to the ramp to deice again. Those time frames would have been consistent with the FAA’s recommendations for light snow.

The plane took off at 7:44 p.m. and ultimately came to rest upside-down before catching on fire. Federal investigators were initially unable to reach the site with the region under heavy snow and ice from a winter storm sweeping the region.

A preliminary review of flight data recorder data revealed no evidence of a flight control malfunction or failure, the NTSB said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deicing delay cited in deadly Maine jet crash

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