A Hawaiian chef was identified as one of the six victims who were killed over the weekend in a plane crash during takeoff from Bangor International Airport in Maine.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the Bombardier Challenger 600 jet, which was bound for Paris, France, flipped and caught fire during departure at about 7:45 p.m. on Sunday during Winter Storm Fern.
“We are heartbroken to share the tragic news of the loss of Nick Mastrascusa, a parent, coach, and friend in our ‘ohana. On Sunday evening, January 25, Nick lost his life in a plane crash in Bangor, Maine,” reads a GoFundMe page. The page says he leaves behind “his dearest Natalia” and three children in the ninth, fifth and second grades.
The jet was registered to a partner of personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers in Houston. Sources told ABC13 that Tara Arnold, an attorney at the firm and wife of founding partner Kurt Arnold, was aboard the doomed flight.
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The pilot, Jacob Hosmer, 47, also perished in the crash, his father, Gary, told KPRC2. A third victim was identified as Shawna Collins, according to ABC13.
Mastrascusa was the executive vice president of hospitality for Beyond, a luxury travel company founded by the Arnolds, according to the New York Post.
“Nick Mastrascusa is an award-winning chef and sommelier whose culinary career has spanned more than two decades in some of the world’s most celebrated luxury hotels, private clubs, and resorts,” read a biography on the company’s website. “Most recently, he served as Executive Chef and Director of Food & Beverage at Discovery Land’s Kūkiʻo Golf and Beach Club on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, where he oversaw three restaurants, an exclusive wine program, and a culinary vision rooted in sophistication, soul, and a sense of place.”
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“Educated at Johnson & Wales University in Miami and later at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Nick honed his craft under the rigorous standards of luxury hospitality,” it added.
FAA officials have not yet released the cause of the crash, citing “unknown circumstances” on departure. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been notified and will investigate.
Multiple emergency crews rushed to the accident, and controllers were heard saying, “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down.”
A departing plane ahead of them radioed to the tower that visibility wasn’t great and they chose not to fly, but the winds were relatively mild and the snow, powdery and fine in the near-zero temperatures, had accumulated only a dusting, according to The Associated Press.
Airport officials say the plane – which had stopped to refuel in Bangor — went through the standard de-icing process and got in line with other jets that took off safely, the AP reported.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
