A Canadian air ambulance with six people on board disappeared this morning over the Atlantic while conducting a medical evacuation flight from Bermuda to Boston, according to the U.S. Coast Guard in an ongoing search operation off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The aircraft, a Gulfstream G100 operated by Latitude Air Ambulance —a Canadian company based in Hamilton, Ontario—, took off from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda at 11:41 p.m. on Friday, heading for Logan Airport in Boston.
According to data from FlightAware collected by The New York Times, the plane was maintaining a constant altitude of 24,000 feet before descending several thousand feet around 1:05 a.m.
Minutes later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lost all contact with the aircraft and issued a search and rescue alert at 1:20 a.m.
The Coast Guard immediately deployed aircraft, helicopters, and vessels in the area south of Nantucket. Among the identified assets are an HC-144A Ocean Sentry and an HC-130J Super Hercules conducting systematic search patterns over the area.
Massport, the port authority that manages Logan Airport, confirmed that the plane did not arrive as scheduled. "Our thoughts are with those on board and their loved ones as the search continues," a spokesperson for the entity stated.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the aircraft reportedly declared an in-flight electrical emergency that affected its radar and radios. The search operation is also extending to the area around the towers of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, according to sources on social media.
Clarence Togeretz, flight operations director at Latitude Air Ambulance, confirmed that the plane was missing and that the company had contacted search and rescue teams as well as the authorities. He declined to provide further details about the flight.
"We always worry when our crew does not report to us on time," Togeretz stated to NBC News. "But I must say, in an optimistic and positive way, that does not mean the worst has happened."
It was not confirmed whether there were patients among the six people on board, in addition to the medical and flight personnel. The aircraft, registered in Canada as C-GRJP, was manufactured in Israel in 1996 and previously operated as a private jet.
Latitude Air Ambulance operates a fleet of ten aircraft, including four Gulfstream G100s, typically staffed with a nurse and a respiratory therapist. The company specializes in medical evacuations and international repatriations.
The missing airplane had completed several flights in recent weeks, including another route between Bermuda and Boston on September 24.
A similar case shook the region in early September, when a small plane with four people disappeared en route from the Bahamas to Miami with no survivors found.
At the close of the available reports, the search was still ongoing with no remains, survivors, or the aircraft having been located.
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