Search Called Off After Medical Plane Vanishes Over the Atlantic with Six Aboard

The United States Coast Guard has suspended the search for six people aboard a medical transport aircraft that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. Contact with the Gulfstream G100 was lost at around 2:00 a.m. local time, shortly after the plane departed Bermuda bound for Boston.

The aircraft, registered to Canadian medical transport company Latitude Air Ambulance, was carrying two pilots, two medical staff — all Canadian — and a patient and a relative from Bermuda. In a statement released Sunday evening, the Coast Guard said the search had covered more than 7,000 kilometres over 66 hours before being called off.

"Calling off a search is never an easy decision," said Matthew Lake, chief of the Coast Guard's Northeast District. "Our deepest condolences go out to all the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy." The Coast Guard confirmed it had located a debris field off Nantucket that was identified as coming from the missing aircraft.

According to flight tracking data, the Gulfstream G100 took off from Bermuda at 12:41 a.m. and was scheduled to land in Boston about an hour later. Instead, the aircraft's signal was lost abruptly over the ocean. Flight tracking data showed the plane plunged from an altitude of around 7,300 meters to approximately 3,300 meters in just a few minutes before communications went dark.

Audio from air traffic control revealed the pilot declared an emergency before contact was lost. The controller was heard asking: "You're coming in blind? Is that what you said? Are you declaring an emergency, or no?" The pilot's response was inaudible. The controller later confirmed the pilot had declared an emergency. An area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews to prepare to meet a plane with an "electrical issue" just after 1:00 a.m. The dispatcher later said the aircraft had lost radio and radar contact.

The exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear. In a statement from Nantucket Airport — one of the airports closest to the aircraft's last known location — it was reported that the plane had declared an emergency before contact was lost.

Latitude Air Ambulance, based in Hamilton, Ontario, provides international medical flights for patients returning home. Clarence Togeretz, the company's director of flight operations, told Canadian media that the crew had flown to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative. He said it was the first time the company had lost contact with one of its aircraft.

The Coast Guard had earlier deployed aircraft, boats, and a helicopter in the search effort, and was working with Massachusetts authorities to use sonar-equipped vessels to scan the seabed around the debris field. The black box recorder had not been recovered.

For now, six families are waiting for answers that may take months to emerge. The debris has been found. The search has ended. The cause of the crash remains a mystery. And the Atlantic, which swallowed the plane in the early hours of Saturday morning, has not yet given up its secrets.

Written by Christiane Hofreiter christiane.hofreiter@alpineweekly.com