A Canadian-registered medical evacuation plane carrying six people has gone missing off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, while flying from Bermuda to Boston, prompting a search by the United States Coast Guard.
The Gulfstream G100 aircraft, operated by Ontario-based Latitude Air Ambulance, lost contact with the Federal Aviation Administration early Saturday while en route to Boston Logan International Airport.
The Coast Guard said its air and surface crews were searching waters off Nantucket for the aircraft.
The plane departed L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda shortly after midnight with four crew members and two passengers on board.
Latitude Air Ambulance operations manager Clarence Togeretz said those aboard included two pilots, two medical staff, a patient and the patient’s family member.
The four crew members are Canadian, while the two passengers are Bermudian nationals.
Togeretz said the company lost contact with the aircraft at about 1:30 a.m. as it approached Boston.
“We’re praying for a safe outcome,” he said.
The Coast Guard has deployed an HC-144 aircraft and an MH-60 helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod, a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Brant Point and the USCGC William Sparling as part of the search operation.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also gathering information about the incident.
Reports citing flight-tracking data indicated that the aircraft had been flying at around 24,000 feet before making a rapid descent. Authorities had not publicly confirmed a crash or released details about what caused the aircraft to disappear.
The plane was expected to arrive at Boston Logan International Airport at about 1:30 a.m., but it did not arrive as scheduled.
Massport, which operates Boston Logan, confirmed that the aircraft did not reach the airport and expressed concern for those aboard and their families.
Latitude Air Ambulance, based in Hamilton, Ontario, provides medical evacuation and patient-repatriation services, transporting patients between healthcare facilities and their home countries.
The company said it was working with authorities as the search continued.
The Coast Guard has not announced the condition or whereabouts of the six people aboard.
Search teams remained focused on waters off Nantucket as authorities continued efforts to locate the aircraft and establish what happened during the flight.
