A medical evacuation jet carrying six people vanished during an overnight flight from Bermuda to Boston after its crew declared an emergency, triggering a massive Coast Guard search off the coast of Massachusetts.
The missing aircraft, a Canadian-registered Gulfstream G100 operated by Latitude Air Ambulance, was carrying two pilots, two medical staff members, a patient and the patient’s family member when contact was lost early Saturday, Oct. 3.
The four crew members are Canadian, while the two passengers are from Bermuda.
The jet departed L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda at approximately 11:41 p.m. Friday and was scheduled to arrive at Boston Logan International Airport around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
It never arrived.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a search-and-rescue alert for the aircraft at approximately 1:20 a.m. after controllers lost contact with the flight. The Coast Guard later said the search was concentrated in waters south of Nantucket.
Disturbing radio communications recorded before the disappearance suggest the flight was experiencing trouble as it approached the northeastern United States.
In one exchange, an air traffic controller struggled to hear the pilot and asked whether the crew was declaring an emergency.
“You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said?” the controller asked, according to audio reported by The Boston Globe.
The pilot’s initial response could not clearly be heard, but the controller later confirmed that the aircraft had declared an emergency.
Around 1:12 a.m., emergency crews at Boston Logan were also reportedly told to prepare for an incoming aircraft experiencing an apparent electrical problem.
A Massport Fire Rescue dispatcher said the plane was expected to arrive within roughly 10 to 15 minutes but had lost both radio and radar contact.
The aircraft never reached the airport.
Flight-tracking information showed the Gulfstream descending from roughly 23,500 feet to about 11,000 feet before its final recorded position. While the rapid descent has drawn attention, publicly available information does not establish whether it was uncontrolled or directly connected to whatever emergency the crew was experiencing.
That distinction could become important as investigators work to determine what happened.
The missing aircraft has been identified as tail number C-GRJP.
Coast Guard crews mounted an extensive search south of Nantucket involving aircraft and vessels, including an MH-60 helicopter, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft, a C-130, a 47-foot motor lifeboat and the 154-foot Coast Guard cutter William Sparling.
Local reporting placed the initial search area roughly 13 nautical miles south of Nantucket.
Latitude Air Ambulance is based in Hamilton, Ontario, and specializes in transporting patients who need medical care away from home. Its aircraft are equipped for medical evacuations and can carry equipment used to treat critically ill patients during flights.
Company operations manager Clarence Togeretz confirmed that the missing Gulfstream belongs to Latitude Air Ambulance.
The company has been working with American and Canadian authorities as the search continues.
Canadian Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon also confirmed that four Canadian citizens were aboard the jet and said Transport Canada was coordinating with authorities involved in the search.
The National Transportation Safety Board has begun gathering information about the disappearance, although a formal cause cannot be determined unless investigators are able to locate the aircraft and examine flight data, communications and other evidence.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Saturday that her thoughts were with everyone aboard and their families and that the state would support the Coast Guard’s efforts.
The disappearance comes despite the aircraft having been regularly active in recent weeks. Flight records show the jet had been making frequent trips, including another Bermuda-to-Boston flight in late September.
For now, authorities have not publicly identified the patient or the passenger accompanying them, and officials have not announced what caused the emergency.
As of late Saturday afternoon, the Coast Guard search remained active and there had been no confirmed announcement that the aircraft, wreckage or anyone aboard had been located.
The investigation is expected to focus heavily on the crew’s emergency declaration, the reported electrical issue, the aircraft’s final communications and its last known position south of Nantucket.
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