US authorities are searching for six people after a medical plane bound for Boston, Massachusetts, went missing early Saturday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that it lost contact with a Gulfstream G‑100 and issued a search‑and‑rescue notice just after 1:00 local time (6:00 GMT). An air and water search is underway off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, according to the US Coast Guard’s Northeast District.
The aircraft departed from Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time, according to FlightAware data, and was scheduled to land at Boston’s Logan International Airport at 1:30 EDT (6:30 GMT). The plane belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company that provides international medical flights for patients returning home, as released by the Coast Guard’s tail number. On board were two Canadian pilots and two Canadian medical staff, according to Clarence Togeretz, director of flight operations at Latitude, who told CBC News that the crew had flown to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative, who are not Canadian.
FlightAware’s tracker shows the aircraft significantly dropped in altitude before its communications went dark, plummeting from around 7,300 m (24,000 ft) to 3,300 m (11,000 ft). Radio transmissions indicate trouble between the air traffic controller and the pilot, with the controller asking, “Are you declaring an emergency, or no?” and later confirming the pilot had declared an emergency. An area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews just after 1:00 EDT to prepare to meet a plane with an “electrical issue”; the dispatcher later said the aircraft had lost radio and radar.
The Coast Guard continues to search the area around Nantucket, while the FAA monitors for any additional distress signals. The fate of the crew and the patient remains unknown as investigators work to determine what caused the sudden loss of contact.
