Coast Guard searches off Nantucket for missing medical transport jet that left Bermuda with 6 aboard

By Eduardo Cuevas, David Williams, Sharif Paget, Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN

(CNN) — The Coast Guard is searching off the coast of Massachusetts, near Nantucket, for a medical transport aircraft with six people onboard after the jet went missing early Saturday morning on its way from Bermuda to Boston, the agency said.

The plane was flying at an altitude of 24,000 feet for more than an hour before it plunged 13,000 feet over two minutes, according to FlightAware data.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a search and rescue alert notice around 1:20 a.m. for the Gulfstream G-100, which departed from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda for Boston Logan International Airport, the FAA said.

The FAA reported losing contact with the aircraft early Saturday morning, the Coast Guard Northeast District said, adding the search is underway off Nantucket, an island of Massachusetts around 30 miles south of Cape Cod.

The agency has brought in planes, helicopters and boats to search for the plane.

The missing Gulfstream plane was built in 1996, according to Canadian government records, and has been registered to the Canada-based company Latitude Air Ambulance since 2018.

The four-person plane crew had flown to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative, Latitude Director of Flight Operations Clarence Togeretz told CNN’s newsgathering partner CBC.

The two pilots and two medical staff are Canadian, while the two individuals picked up in Bermuda are not, according to Togeretz.

The company lost contact with the plane around 1:30 a.m. and notified the Coast Guard after it failed to land on schedule, Togeretz added.

CNN has reached out to Latitude for comment.

The company operates four of the Gulfstream G100 aircraft, along with Learjet 35A, Beech 1900-D and Falcon 900B aircraft.

“Latitude is relied on by hundreds of individuals every year to provide safe and reliable medical repatriation back to their homes from wherever they are in the world,” the company’s website says. “Each air ambulance flight is staffed with two pilots and medical team members that are fully trained and qualified to provide the necessary care to each patient.”

Past flights by the company’s planes have included 120 countries and every continent except Antarctica.

“My thoughts are with all those on board, as well as their families, loved ones, and colleagues, during this extremely difficult time,” Steven MacKinnon, Canada’s transportation minister, said in a social media post on Saturday. “We are closely following the situation and working with the relevant authorities as search and rescue operations continue.”

The Bermuda government has been in contact with American authorities as well as the families of those on board, Premier David Burt said on social media.

“My thoughts are with everyone on board and their families during this deeply worrying time,” he said in a statement.

Former FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko explained that in addition to conducting grid searches and retracing the plane’s expected path, the Coast Guard can also track a missing aircraft through its Emergency Locator Transmitter, which automatically sends a distress radio signal after a crash.

“If an airplane ends up on the bottom of the ocean, it puts out a beep, and that’s another way that searchers can look for it,” Kolko told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday.

Air traffic controllers describe plane having issue before losing contact

Air traffic controllers got word that a Boston-bound air ambulance was having some sort of issue before losing contact with the plane early Saturday morning, according to audio recorded by LiveATC.net.

“Roger, you said you’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” the air traffic controller is heard asking in the audio.

“Are you declaring an emergency or no?” the controller then asked.

No response from the aircraft was audible in the recording as the controller made repeated attempts to reestablish contact.

The controllers then asked another airplane flying in the area to look for the medical transport jet and to try to contact it by radio.

The aircraft did not arrive at Boston Logan as scheduled, according to Ben Crawley, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates the airport.

“Our thoughts are with those on board and their loved ones as the search continues,” he said in an email to CNN.

The plane took off just after 12:40 a.m. in Bermuda, according to FlightAware. It had a scheduled landing at around 1:12 a.m. in Boston.

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CNN’s Alexandra Skores and Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.