A medical transfer
aircraft carrying six people was reported missing on a flight from Bermuda to
Boston, the US Coast Guard said on Saturday.(3 Oct) The Federal Aviation Administration told
the Coast Guard early on Saturday that it had lost contact with the
plane, a Gulfstream jet, a Coast Guard spokesperson said by
email. Four Canadians are on the
plane, Canadian Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said on X. “We are closely monitoring the situation
and are working with the relevant authorities as search and rescue efforts
continue,” he wrote. The aircraft,
registered to Latitude Air Ambulance, departed Bermuda at 12:41 a.m. local
time, according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane was
flying at 24,000 feet (7,300 meters) for much of the flight before descending
13,000 feet in about two minutes shortly before flight controllers lost
contact, data showed. Local 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. Latitude is based in Ontario, Canada, and
provides medical evacuation services. The company did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The Coast Guard said it dispatched air and surface crews to
search for the plane near Nantucket, an island community south of mainland
Massachusetts. The Bermuda government
is in contact with US authorities and families of the passengers, Bermuda
Premier David Burt wrote in a statement posted on Instagram. “We are praying that all six people will
be found safe,” he wrote. Weather
conditions in Nantucket were clear as of
Saturday afternoon, according to AccuWeather.