The US Coast Guard said late on Saturday it had found debris from a medical transport aircraft off the shore of Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island and was searching for the six people who were on board.
The jet lost contact with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during a flight from Bermuda to Boston on Saturday morning. In a statement to the Guardian, an FAA spokesperson said that the agency issued a search-and-rescue alert notice for a Gulfstream G-100 at about 1.20am local time Saturday.
Details of the flight and passengers
The Canadian-registered air ambulance jet had four crew members and two passengers onboard when it departed Bermuda’s LF Wade international airport overnight for the flight to Massachusetts, according to a statement from the Bermuda airport’s operator, Skyport, obtained by the Associated Press.
Four Canadians were on the plane, the Canadian minister of transport Steven MacKinnon posted. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with the relevant authorities as search and rescue efforts continue.”
The other two passengers were Bermudian nationals, the coast guard said. Searches would continue throughout the night near Nantucket, an island community south of mainland Massachusetts.
Flight data and communications
The Bermuda government was in contact with US authorities and the families of the passengers, the Bermuda premier, David Burt, posted.
The aircraft, registered to Latitude Air Ambulance, departed Bermuda at 12.41am on Saturday according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane was flying at 24,000 feet (7,300 metres) for much of the journey before descending 13,000 feet in about two minutes shortly before flight controllers lost contact, data showed.
TV station Boston 25 posted an audio clip from Boston Logan international airport in which an air traffic controller can be heard asking the Gulfstream pilot: “You said you’re coming in blind? Is that what you said?”
The controller then asked whether the plane was declaring an emergency. No response was heard.
Search and response efforts
Latitude is based in Ontario, Canada, and provides medical evacuation services.
NBC News reported that the plane was carrying out a medical evacuation in Bermuda, citing a statement from Clarence Togeretz, the director of flight operations at Latitude.
“We always get rather concerned when our crew doesn’t report to us in a timely manner,” he told NBC News. “But I will say that again, optimistically and positively, that doesn’t mean that the worst has happened.”
NBC also reported that the Massachusetts port authority, which operates Boston Logan international airport, said the aircraft did not arrive as scheduled. A port authority spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with those onboard and their loved ones as the search continues.”
The FAA is coordinating with the Rescue Coordination Center and the US Coast Guard to locate the aircraft.
