Medical Plane With Six Aboard Missing Off Massachusetts Coast
A search is underway for a medical aircraft that lost contact with air traffic control shortly after departing Bermuda.
US authorities are searching for six people after a medical plane bound for Boston, Massachusetts, went missing early Saturday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported losing contact with the Gulfstream G-100 plane and issued a search and rescue notice shortly after 1:00 a.m. local time.
An air and water search is currently underway off the coast of Nantucket, an island south of Cape Cod, according to the US Coast Guard's Northeast District. The aircraft had departed from Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport at 11:40 p.m. local time on Friday and was scheduled to land at Boston's Logan International Airport at 1:30 a.m. EDT.
Flight data from FlightAware indicates the aircraft experienced a significant drop in altitude before communications were lost. The plane reportedly descended from approximately 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet. According to the tail number released by the Coast Guard, the aircraft belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company that specializes in transporting patients internationally.