An air ambulance has gone missing while carrying six people on a flight from Bermuda to Boston. The US Federal Aviation Administration told the coastguard early on Saturday that it had lost contact with the plane, a Gulfstream jet, a coastguard spokesperson told the Reuters news agency by email. The coastguard said it dispatched air and surface crews to search for the plane near Nantucket, an island community south of mainland Massachusetts. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the situation on Saturday morning but had no further update to share.
The Canadian-registered air ambulance jet had four crew members and two passengers on board when it departed Bermuda’s LF Wade International airport overnight for the flight to Massachusetts, according to a statement from the Bermuda airport’s operator, Skyport. Canada’s Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said in a social media post that four Canadians were on the plane. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with the relevant authorities as search and rescue efforts continue,” MacKinnon wrote. The aircraft, registered to Latitude Air Ambulance, departed Bermuda at 12:41am local time (03:41 GMT), according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane was flying at 24,000 feet (7,300 metres) for much of the flight before descending 13,000ft (3,960 metres) in about two minutes shortly before flight controllers lost contact, data showed.
Air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net offered a glimpse of the flight’s final communications before it went missing. “Roger, you said you’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” a controller can be heard asking the pilot. The pilot’s transmission could not be heard in the recording. The controller later confirmed the pilot was declaring an emergency just before losing contact with the plane.
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. Latitude Air Ambulance is based in Ontario, Canada, and provides medical evacuation services. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
