Debris field found off Nantucket in search for missing air ambulance with 6 aboard
Version 2: New official details have emerged: searchers found a debris field off Nantucket, the Coast Guard identified those aboard as four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals, the search area was put at 2,840 square miles and crews were deploying sonar to the seabed.
In short
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching off the Massachusetts coast for an air ambulance carrying six people that disappeared on a nighttime flight from Bermuda to Boston, and planned to send sonar across the seabed. The FAA told the Coast Guard at 2 a.m. Saturday it had lost contact with the Gulfstream G100, which carried four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals, and searchers later found a debris field off Nantucket, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Matt Lake said. NPR, citing flight data, reported the jet dropped at least 9,000 feet over two minutes, leveled off for several minutes, then disappeared.
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The U.S. Coast Guard continued searching Sunday off the Massachusetts coast for an air ambulance carrying six people that disappeared during a nighttime flight from Bermuda to Boston, and planned to comb the seabed, the Coast Guard said. PBS NewsHour reported that authorities intended to send sonar across the ocean floor around the area where wreckage was found. [ 3 ]
The Federal Aviation Administration contacted the Coast Guard at 2 a.m. Saturday to report it had lost contact with the Gulfstream G100 carrying four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals over the Atlantic Ocean, according to PBS NewsHour. Searchers later Saturday found a “debris field” off the coast of Nantucket, Coast Guard Northeast District Rear Adm. Matt Lake said at a news conference Sunday. The depth of the water around the debris field was 80 to 90 feet, and the Coast Guard was in the process of deploying sonar to search the seabed floor, he said. [ 3 ]
Coast Guard crews along with the New York National Guard's Air Rescue Wing and Massachusetts authorities had searched an area encompassing 2,840 square miles using fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters. “This is a large and demanding search area,” Lake said. Coast Guard Capt. John McTamney, chief of response for the northeast district, said weather had not been a factor in the search efforts. [ 3 ]
“We'll continue to search and saturate the area until we're at the point where we are confident that if there were any survivors remaining on the surface of the water, we would have found them,” McTamney said. Lake said the Coast Guard has been updating the next of kin of those aboard the Canadian-registered air ambulance jet with the progress of the search. [ 3 ]
The plane had four crew members and two passengers aboard when it departed Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport for the nighttime flight to Massachusetts, according to a statement from Skyport, the airport's operator. PBS NewsHour reported that air traffic audio indicates the plane may have been “coming in blin…”, a phrase the available text leaves incomplete. [ 3 ]
NPR, citing flight data, reported that the jet dropped at least 9,000 feet over two minutes, then leveled off for several more minutes before disappearing. NBC News reported that the Coast Guard was searching for a Gulfstream jet carrying six people that lost contact with flight controllers early Saturday morning on its way to Boston from Bermuda, and described an urgent race to find it. [ 1 , 2 ]
Why it matters
Six people are unaccounted for, and the search had moved from the surface to the seabed, with the Coast Guard saying it would keep saturating the area until it was confident any survivors on the surface would have been found. Two of the three outlets here are tier-1 national broadcasters, so official updates are likely to keep coming. The flight also links three jurisdictions — a Canadian-registered aircraft, a Bermuda departure and a U.S. search — which keeps interest beyond Massachusetts.
Key facts
- The U.S. Coast Guard is searching off the Massachusetts coast for an air ambulance carrying six people that disappeared on a flight from Bermuda to Boston, according to PBS NewsHour. [ 3 ]
- The Federal Aviation Administration contacted the Coast Guard at 2 a.m. Saturday to report it had lost contact with the Gulfstream G100 carrying four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals over the Atlantic, PBS NewsHour reported. [ 3 ]
- Searchers found a debris field off the coast of Nantucket, Coast Guard Northeast District Rear Adm. Matt Lake said at a news conference Sunday, according to PBS NewsHour. [ 3 ]
- Coast Guard crews, the New York National Guard's Air Rescue Wing and Massachusetts authorities had searched an area of 2,840 square miles, and the Coast Guard was deploying sonar to search the seabed floor, where water is 80 to 90 feet deep, PBS NewsHour reported. [ 3 ]
- The plane had four crew members and two passengers when it departed Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport, according to a statement from Skyport, the airport's operator. [ 3 ]
- NPR, citing flight data, reported the jet dropped at least 9,000 feet over two minutes, then leveled off for several more minutes before disappearing. [ 1 ]
- Coast Guard Capt. John McTamney said weather had not been a factor in the search, according to PBS NewsHour. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The fate of the six people aboard and whether anyone survived. No outlet reports survivors, bodies or a confirmed outcome; the Coast Guard said it would search until it was confident about survivors on the surface.
- What caused the aircraft to descend and disappear. No outlet gives a cause; NPR reports flight data without explanation.
- Whether the flight was a medical evacuation with patients aboard. PBS NewsHour calls it an air ambulance, but Skyport's statement says four crew members and two passengers were aboard, and no outlet describes the passengers as patients.
- What air traffic audio indicating the plane may have been “coming in blin…” refers to. The quoted phrase in the PBS NewsHour text is cut off, and the document gives no explanation of the audio.
- Whether the debris field has been confirmed as belonging to the missing jet. PBS NewsHour reports the debris field was found by searchers but does not state that it was identified as coming from the aircraft.
- Four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals were aboard, and the aircraft was a Canadian-registered air ambulance. Reported by a single source so far
- A debris field was found off the coast of Nantucket, the Coast Guard said. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The Federal Aviation Administration contacts the Coast Guard to report it has lost contact with the Gulfstream G100 over the Atlantic. [ 3 ]
- NPR reports the Coast Guard is searching for a missing medical plane carrying six people, citing flight data showing a drop of at least 9,000 feet over two minutes before the jet disappeared. [ 1 ]
- NBC News reports an urgent search for the Gulfstream jet, which it says lost contact with flight controllers early Saturday morning en route to Boston from Bermuda. [ 2 ]
- PBS NewsHour reports the search is continuing off the Massachusetts coast, a debris field has been found off Nantucket and crews plan to scour the seabed with sonar. [ 3 ]