&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Tara Arnold, wife of hotshot Houston lawyer, among Bangor plane crash victims. Who is she?")
The private jet that crashed at the Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday had the wife of a prominent lawyer and an event planner on board who were going on a girls' trip to Paris. The Bombardier Challenger 650 business jet belonged to Houston-based law firm Arnold & Itkin. Tara Arnold, the wife of personal injury attorney Kurt Arnold, a name partner at the company, was among six killed in the crash. Event planner Shawna Collins was also killed in the accident, according to ABC 13. The pilot who died in the crash has been identified as Jacob Hosmer, who has been employed with Arnold & Itkin LLP since May 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile. The Bangor crash happened soon after the plane took off. Videos of the jet showed burning wreckage of the upside-down plane on the runway. According to flight data, the jet was moving at 281 kmph when it veered right during takeoff and flipped.
Who was Tara Arnold killed in Bangor, Maine crash?
Tara was a commercial lawyer and had been a part of Arnold & Itkin since it was established in 2005. The couple lived a luxurious life in their $11 million mansion in Houston with their two kids. The law firm is known for defending undocumented migrants, according to the Daily Mail. Tara was flying to Paris for a girls' weekend from Houston. It landed at Bangor at 6:09 pm for refuelling and to remove ice deposited by the megastorm in Maine. However, things went haywire during take-off, causing the plane to crash. Tara got her law degree from Tulane University in Louisiana and was motivated to pursue the field, following in the footsteps of her mother, who was a personal injury attorney for victims of crime. Tara graduated magna cum laude and worked at the Houston office of a large New York City law firm. After she met Kurt, she joined his firm.
Her company profile states that she was passionate about helping victims of accidents on offshore oil platforms. She enjoyed travelling to new places and loved outdoor activities. Arnold & Itkin was a major donor to the University of Texas, the school from which both Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin graduated. The Kurt & Tara Arnold Family Foundation and the Jason & Kisha Itkin Family Foundation were reported to have collectively pledged to donate $40 million to the school's athletics program.
