A chilling radio call, a fireball in the snow, and six lives gone in seconds. What really happened on that icy Maine runway?A high-powered business trip ended in disaster Sunday evening when a private jet linked to a prominent Houston law firm crashed during takeoff from Bangor International Airport, killing everyone on board.The Bombardier Challenger 600, a twin-engine aircraft owned by legal powerhouse Arnold & Itkin LLP, flipped and erupted into flames at 7:45 p.m. as Winter Storm Fern lashed the Northeast with snow and freezing temperatures.

The jet had earlier departed from Houston’s Hobby Airport, made a stop in Maine, and was headed to France. But as it began to lift off the snow-covered runway in Bangor, it never left the ground.Among the six killed was Tara Arnold, wife of firm co-founder Kurt Arnold. A Louisiana native and Tulane Law School graduate, she was a respected attorney in her own right, specializing in offshore workplace injuries.Tara lived in an 11-million-dollar mansion in Houston with her husband and their children.”I’m close friends with Kurt and Tara Arnold, and we’re still waiting for additional information,” said Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones. “My heart hurts for them, for their children, and for their families.”