The six people killed in a fiery private-jet crash in Maine were on their way to France’s Champagne region when the Bombardier Challenger 600 flipped on the runway during takeoff as a snowstorm moved in, according to local police and investigators cited by The Associated Press. The flight had left Houston and was expected to travel to the region, with a stop in Bangor for refueling before continuing to Europe.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that Tara Arnold, a Houston lawyer-turned-entrepreneur and philanthropist, and three other victims died in the crash. Arnold, 46, had been traveling with people who worked in hospitality and event planning for her luxury concierge business, and the AP report said the group had been flying to France to help scope the next travel destination for high-net-worth clients.
Authorities identified the sommelier as Shelby Kuyawa, 34, of Hawaii, and the pilots as Jacob Hosmer, 47, of Pearland, Texas, and Jorden Reidel, 33, of Texas. Police also identified two other victims: event planner Shawna Collins, 53, of Houston, and chef Nick Mastrascusa, 43, of Hawaii.
The report said Arnold had begun her career in mergers and acquisitions, including work in oil and gas, and later represented clients that included victims of offshore accidents. Arnold was married, with two young children, and her husband, Kurt, had co-founded Arnold & Itkin, a personal injury firm where she had also worked.
In the months before the crash, Arnold and her family had started a concierge service called Beyond for travelers seeking stays at properties including Turks & Caicos and Telluride, Colorado, for as much as $15,000 to $30,000 a night, the AP said. The couple also made a $40 million pledge to the University of Texas in 2024, with their names placed atop a football scoreboard.
Mastrascusa, described as an executive chef on Hawaii’s Big Island, had overseen restaurants at The Four Seasons and other resorts, and he was a married father of three, the AP report said. Kuyawa was described as a master sommelier who spent time growing up in Europe and Asia, which helped shape her hospitality career, and she worked at high-end properties in Hawaii and Vail, Colorado. The AP report said Kuyawa and Mastrascusa had both worked at a Kona golf resort in recent years, and that Kuyawa had been looking forward to sharing her “love of storytelling through food and wine” in her latest role.
Collins worked for Arnold’s law firm and for the Arnold family on personal events, and Lakewood Church in Houston, run by Joel Osteen Ministries, confirmed that Collins was among those killed. A church spokesperson, Donald Iloff Jr., told the AP that “Everybody loved her. She just had that kind of personality,” and friends described Collins as someone who “celebrated everything” and “gave of herself without hesitation,” in a social media post cited in the report.
The AP report also described Hosmer as a longtime pilot and flight instructor who joined Arnold & Itkin in May as captain of their flight crew, and it said he registered a Texas aviation firm in late 2024. Relatives confirmed his death to the AP. “To know Jake, as he was so affectionately called, was to know love, kindness, hospitality and true friendship,” the fundraising post said, according to the report.
Investigators have not determined the cause of the crash. The AP report said the plane, a 2020 model, had flown short trips in the days before the crash between Houston and Austin, Texas, and that Bangor International Airport is a common refueling stop for private jets flying to Europe. Experts said the National Transportation Safety Board is likely to focus on the approaching storm and whether ice accumulating on the wings prevented the plane from getting airborne, noting that ice-related issues have occurred before on that model, while the agency will still consider all possible factors.