Six aboard missing medical flight presumed dead off Nantucket

The US Coast Guard ended its search for survivors off Nantucket on Sunday evening, and Latitude Air Ambulance said the four members of its team, the patient and the patient's family escort aboard Heartbeat 104 are presumed to have died. The Canadian operator said its thoughts were with the families, loved ones, friends and colleagues of those on board.

The Federal Aviation Administration lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 just after 01:00 local time on Saturday. The plane had left Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time Friday and was due at Boston Logan International at 01:30 EDT. A debris field confirmed to be from the aircraft was located Saturday evening.

Four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals were on board. Clarence Togeretz, Latitude's director of flight operations, told CBC News that two pilots and two medical staff, both Canadian, had flown to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative. Latitude Air Ambulance is a Canadian company that provides international medical flights for patients returning home.

FlightAware's tracker showed the aircraft dropped sharply in altitude, from about 7,300m (24,000ft) to 3,300m (11,000ft), before communications went dark. The Boston Globe, citing transmissions provided by LiveATC.net, reported trouble in communications between the air traffic controller and the pilot, including confusion over whether an emergency had been declared; the controller later confirmed the pilot had declared one. An area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews shortly after 01:00 EDT to prepare for a plane with an electrical issue, then later said the aircraft had lost radio and radar.

Latitude said it would continue cooperating with authorities during recovery efforts and investigations. The company said it would not speculate about what occurred and described determining the circumstances and cause of an aviation accident as a careful and methodical process. Peter Byl, president of Latitude Air Ambulance, called the loss unimaginable for the company and for everyone who loved the six people aboard, and said its focus was on supporting families, staff and authorities.