Debris Field Found From Medical Plane Missing Off Nantucket Coast

The U.S. Coast Guard located a debris field off the coast of Nantucket from a medical transport plane that vanished early Saturday morning.

The Gulfstream G-100 aircraft was carrying six people, identified as four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals, who have not been located. The plane was flying from Bermuda to Boston when air traffic controllers lost contact with it around 2 a.m. Saturday. A source familiar with the investigation believes the plane rapidly descended 7,500 feet before hitting the water.

Air traffic audio indicates the crew declared an emergency to New York air traffic controllers, who reported difficulty hearing the pilots. The pilot reported electrical problems as the jet approached the coast. Preliminary data from FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft descended sharply from around 24,000 feet to approximately 10,000 feet. Mary Schiavo, a former Inspector General of the Transportation Department and aviation attorney, suggests the plane may have lost its navigational instruments as a storm moved across its path.

The plane belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company providing international medical flights. Clarence Togeretz, director of flight operations at Latitude, stated that two Canadian pilots and two Canadian medical staff were on board, along with a patient and their relative who are not Canadian. The Coast Guard announced that one of its cutters would continue searching the water overnight and into Sunday.