Search suspended after air ambulance disappears off Massachusetts coast
US authorities have suspended a 66-hour search for six people aboard a Canadian-registered medical jet that vanished while flying from Bermuda to Boston. Crews covered more than 4,400 square miles and found a debris field near Nantucket. Air traffic recordings indicate the pilot reported electrical problems and may have been flying without navigation instruments near a storm.
US authorities have suspended the search for six people aboard an air ambulance that disappeared over the Atlantic while travelling from Bermuda to Boston. The Coast Guard said crews searched more than 4,400 miles over 66 hours before ending the operation after finding a debris field near Nantucket, Massachusetts. The Canadian-registered Gulfstream G100 carried four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals, according to the reports.
It departed L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda on a nighttime flight operated by Latitude Air Ambulance, a company based in Ontario. The aircraft left at 12:41 a.m.
local time, according to flight-tracking data cited by Al Jazeera. The Federal Aviation Administration contacted the Coast Guard at about 2 a.m. Saturday after losing communication with the aircraft.
The debris field was found later that day. The Coast Guard, New York National Guard’s Air Rescue Wing and Massachusetts authorities used fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters in the search. The area around the debris was about 80 to 90 feet deep, or roughly 24 to 27 metres.
The Coast Guard said it had covered a vast area before suspending the operation. Rear Admiral Matthew Lake, commander of the service’s northeast district, said ending a search was not an easy decision and expressed condolences to the families. The final communications suggest the aircraft encountered serious problems.
Air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net records a controller asking whether the pilot was “coming in blind”. The pilot had reported electrical problems and declared an emergency shortly before contact was lost, according to ABC News US and the South China Morning Post. Flight-tracking data indicates the jet had been cruising at approximately 24,000 feet before descending sharply.
Al Jazeera reported a fall of about 13,000 feet in roughly two minutes, while preliminary FlightRadar24 data cited by ABC placed the aircraft at around 10,000 feet after the descent. Those details have prompted speculation about a loss of navigation or other instruments, but the cause of the disappearance has not been established. Mary Schiavo, a former US Transportation Department inspector general and aviation attorney, told ABC that electrical or navigational failures combined with a storm could leave a crew disoriented.
Her comments were an assessment, not an official finding. A cutter continued searching overnight into Sunday after the debris was located, according to Al Jazeera, but the broader search was later suspended. Bermuda Premier David Burt said his government was in contact with US authorities and the families.
Canada’s transport minister, Steven MacKinnon, also said officials were monitoring the situation. Latitude Air Ambulance did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment, and authorities had not announced the identities of those aboard or a confirmed explanation for the crash.
Vertrix News compared the attributed reports listed below and wrote this independent synthesis. Claims remain attributed where independent verification was unavailable.