U.S.
Coast Guard confirms debris from missing medical jet off Nantucket
Officials said next of kin had been notified as search crews continued overnight. The Coast Guard has not publicly identified those aboard or described the debris field.
Executive summary
- What is known: A Gulfstream G100 air ambulance traveling from Bermuda to Boston lost contact with air traffic control early Saturday. The U.S. Coast Guard said the FAA reported the loss of contact and launched air and surface crews to search off Nantucket.[1][2][3]
- Who was aboard: Bermuda’s airport operator said the Canadian-registered aircraft left L.F. Wade International Airport with four crew members and two passengers. Latitude Air Ambulance identified the roles as two pilots, two medical staff, a patient and a family member. The Coast Guard said next of kin had been notified; those aboard have not been publicly identified, and officials have not confirmed anyone’s condition.[4][5]
- What remains uncertain: The Coast Guard said it confirmed a debris field was associated with the aircraft and continued searching for the six people aboard. It said four Canadians and two Bermudians were on the plane and that next of kin had been notified. The service has not described the debris or reported a rescue. The cause remains unknown.[3][6][7][8]
The Coast Guard said it began searching after the Federal Aviation Administration reported losing contact with a Gulfstream G100 flying from Bermuda to Boston. The search area was off Nantucket, Massachusetts, with both aircraft and surface crews involved. Nantucket Current, citing a Coast Guard master chief, placed the search about 13 nautical miles south of the island.[1][9]
The response included an MH-60 helicopter and an HC-144 aircraft from Air Station Cape Cod, a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Brant Point, and the Coast Guard cutter William Sparling, Boston 25 News reported from information provided by the service. Nantucket police and harbor personnel were also checking the island’s south shore, according to the local Nantucket Current.[10][9]
The aircraft was a Canadian-registered medical transfer jet. The Bermuda airport operator said four crew and two passengers were aboard when it departed L.F. Wade International Airport overnight for Boston Logan. Latitude Air Ambulance operations director Clarence Togeretz told AFP the six were two pilots, two medical staff, a patient and a family member. That account identifies their roles but not their names or condition; it does not report that anyone has been located.[4][5]
Latitude Air Ambulance’s flight operations director told NBC News that the flight was carrying out a medical evacuation in Bermuda. He said the company becomes concerned when a crew does not check in on time, but added that the delay alone does not mean the worst has happened. The company had activated its emergency response plan. His remarks describe the operator’s response and caution; they do not confirm contact with the aircraft, the status of those aboard, or a rescue.[11]
Nantucket Memorial Airport manager Preston Harimon said in a statement that the airport had been informed the aircraft reportedly declared an emergency before contact was lost. He cautioned that details of the circumstances remained unconfirmed. The Coast Guard’s public account attributed the loss of contact to information from the FAA; neither agency had announced a cause in the updates reviewed for this report.[12][1][2]
Reuters reported that the aircraft was registered to Ontario-based Latitude Air Ambulance and that Bermuda Premier David Burt said his government was in contact with U.S. authorities and families. The available evidence does not establish what prompted the reported emergency or what happened after communications stopped. Flight-tracking data and fragments of radio audio reported by news outlets are not an official accident finding.[13][9][3]
In a Saturday-night update, the Coast Guard said search crews located a debris field confirmed to be associated with the aircraft. The Associated Press reported the service said all six people remained the subject of the search and next of kin had been notified. The service has not described the debris, announced a rescue or explained what happened to the aircraft.[3][8][7]
The Coast Guard reported that four crew members were Canadian and the two passengers were Bermudian; Canada’s transport minister said his government was monitoring the response. The Coast Guard said it had searched 1,644 square miles over 27 hours by the time the debris was found, according to the Nantucket Current. These updates add search and passenger details, but do not establish the aircraft’s cause of loss or the status of anyone aboard.[6][3][7]
The image accompanying this article is a 2018 file photograph of a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod helicopter near Newport, Rhode Island. It is an illustrative image and does not depict Saturday’s search.[14]