NANTUCKET, Massachusetts — A Coast Guard captain said Sunday that anyone still alive on the ocean’s surface would have been located by search crews, as efforts continued to find six people aboard a missing Bermuda-to-Boston air ambulance.
The assessment on Oct. 4 followed the discovery of debris Saturday that the Coast Guard confirmed was associated with the missing Gulfstream G100. All six people remained unaccounted for in the Sunday morning update, and the search had not been suspended.
WCVB reported that crews had searched nearly 3,000 square miles, with assistance from the New York National Guard and Massachusetts authorities. Massachusetts Environmental Police joined Sunday. Officials were having difficulty identifying aircraft parts in the debris field, and there was no indication a flight recorder had been found, the station reported.
The missing aircraft, registration C-GRJP, was operated by Latitude Air Ambulance of Hamilton, Ontario. It was carrying a Bermudian patient and a family member to Boston for medical care, accompanied by four Canadian crew members: two pilots and two medical personnel, according to the company.
Skyport, which operates Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport, said the aircraft departed at approximately 12:41 a.m. Saturday Bermuda time. That was 11:41 p.m. Friday in Massachusetts, where the jet was expected to land at Boston Logan International Airport. Massport confirmed that it never arrived.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a search-and-rescue alert at approximately 1:20 a.m. Saturday Eastern time. The Coast Guard said it was notified by the FAA around 2 a.m. that contact with the aircraft had been lost.
Air traffic control recordings showed controllers working to establish whether the crew was declaring an emergency as radio communications weakened. Other aircraft were asked to help locate or contact the jet. Separately, emergency-radio traffic indicated that fire rescue crews at Logan had been told to prepare for an aircraft experiencing electrical problems. Authorities had not publicly established the cause of the disappearance.
The search brought Coast Guard aircraft and vessels into waters south of Nantucket. A 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Brant Point joined aircraft from Air Station Cape Cod and Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, while the Boston-based cutter William Sparling continued the search overnight into Sunday.
Latitude operations manager Clarence Togeretz said Saturday that the company had been tracking the flight and contacted authorities when the aircraft failed to arrive. Canadian Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon separately confirmed that four Canadians were among the six people aboard and said Canada was working with the relevant authorities as search-and-rescue efforts continued.
The Bermuda government said it had contacted the families and remained in touch with overseas authorities coordinating the operation. Premier David Burt thanked the search-and-rescue crews and expressed hope that everyone aboard would be found safely. “We are praying that all six people will be found safe,” Burt said in his Saturday statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that it was gathering information about the missing aircraft. Authorities had not publicly released the occupants’ identities, and Bermuda’s government asked that the families’ privacy be respected as it awaited further confirmed information.
