All six people aboard a missing Canadian air ambulance are presumed dead after officials ended an extensive search. The aircraft vanished off the coast of Nantucket while travelling from Bermuda to Boston in the early hours of Saturday morning, carrying four crew members, a patient and their relative, who had been collected during a medical evacuation.
Search and debris discovery
The US Coast Guard (USCG) launched an extensive search for the Gulfstream aircraft in the early hours of Saturday, covering a vast stretch of ocean off Nantucket. Multiple aircraft, helicopters and boats were deployed as crews searched. More than 1,600 square miles had been searched over approximately 27 hours, with the total area later exceeding 1,700 square miles.
Authorities located a “debris field” on Saturday evening, which was later confirmed to be from the aircraft. However, officials said the number of components discovered made it difficult to establish exactly what had been found. The search continued through the weekend before the USCG officially suspended its efforts at sunset on Sunday, October 4.
Latitude Air Ambulance statement
Following the suspension, Latitude Air Ambulance released a statement offering its thoughts to the families, loved ones, friends and colleagues of those on board. The statement said: “We must now face the heartbreaking reality that the four members of our Latitude team, our patient and the patient’s family escort, who were aboard Heartbeat 104, are presumed to have died.”
Peter Byl, president of Latitude Air Ambulance, said: “This is an unimaginable loss for our Latitude family and for everyone who loved the six people aboard Heartbeat 104. Our focus now is on supporting their families, supporting our people and assisting the authorities. We will honour our colleagues by remembering the care, professionalism, and commitment they brought to their work every day.”
Final transmissions and altitude loss
FlightAware’s tracker showed the aircraft dramatically lose altitude before communication went dark, plummeting from around 7,300m (24,000ft) to 3,300m (11,000ft) in roughly three minutes. There were also problems with communications between the pilot and air traffic control.
The pilot is understood to have reported electrical problems. Transmissions provided by LiveATC.net revealed the air traffic controller asking: “You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said? Are you declaring an emergency, or no?” However, the pilot’s response was inaudible. The air traffic controller later confirmed the pilot had declared an emergency. Just after 1am EDT, an area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews to prepare to meet a plane with an “electrical issue”.
Prior to the search being suspended, Capt. John McTamney, the Coast Guard’s search-and-rescue coordinator, said: “We'll continue to search and saturate the area until we're at the point where we are confident that if there were any survivors remaining on the surface of the water, we would have found them.”
