The U.S. Coast Guard continued searching Sunday, October 4, for a missing air ambulance carrying six people that disappeared during a flight from Bermuda to Boston. Authorities announced plans to search the ocean floor after locating a debris field on Saturday off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported losing contact with the aircraft at 2 a.m. on Saturday.
The Canadian-registered Gulfstream G100 jet departed Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport with four crew members and two passengers. According to data from FlightRadar24, the aircraft experienced a sharp descent from 24,000 feet to approximately 10,000 feet before vanishing.
Air traffic control audio recorded the pilot reporting electrical problems and declaring an emergency as the plane approached the coast. In the recording, a controller asks the pilot to confirm they are "coming in blind." Mary Schiavo, a former Inspector General of the Transportation Department and current aviation attorney, stated the plane may have lost its navigational instruments while a storm was in its path.
The operation involves a transition from surface search to sub-surface recovery. Searchers are operating in water depths of 80 to 90 feet, where the Coast Guard is deploying sonar equipment to map the seabed for the wreckage.
The incident highlights operational risks of medical transport flights during potential equipment failure. Transport Canada and the country's Minister of Transport, Steven MacKinnon, are monitoring the efforts. The U.S. Coast Guard stated they will continue to search the area until they are confident no survivors remain on the water's surface.