A private plane carrying eight passengers met a tragic fate as it crashed during takeoff at Maine’s Bangor International Airport on Sunday night, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed. The incident took place under the shadow of a severe winter storm that had swept across New England and other parts of the nation, with Bangor experiencing steady snowfall throughout the day.

At approximately 7:45 p.m., the Bombardier Challenger 600 aircraft went down, though the conditions of those on board were not immediately known. In response to the crash, both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have launched investigations to determine the cause of the mishap.

Following the crash, Bangor International Airport swiftly closed its operations, announcing through a statement that emergency response teams were promptly dispatched to the site. The airport clarified that the incident involved a single aircraft attempting to depart.

Located around 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Boston, Bangor International Airport is known for its direct flight connections to major cities such as Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina. The airport’s sudden closure due to the crash marks a significant disruption amidst the already challenging weather conditions affecting much of the country.

Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina, and is located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Boston.

Throughout the weekend, the vast storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the eastern half of the U.S., halting much air and road traffic and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.

Commercial air traffic was also heavily disrupted around much of the U.S.

Some 12,000 flights were canceled Sunday and nearly 20,000 were delayed, according to the flight tracker flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were among those impacted.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 is a wide-bodied business jet configured for nine to 11 passengers. It was launched in 1980 as the first private jet with a “walk-about cabin” and remains a popular charter option, according to aircharterservice.com