US Coast Guard Searches for Missing Air Ambulance With Six Aboard
An urgent search is underway for a Gulfstream aircraft that went missing en route to Boston from Bermuda.
The U.S. Coast Guard has launched an urgent search for an air ambulance plane carrying six people that went missing on Saturday while en route to Boston from Bermuda. The Gulfstream aircraft, operated by Latitude Air Ambulance, failed to reach its destination.
The Coast Guard was alerted to the missing plane around 6 a.m. after the Federal Aviation Administration lost contact with the aircraft early Saturday morning, according to a statement from the agency.
Clarence Togeretz, Latitude's Director of Flight Operations, told NBC News that the crew was performing a medical evacuation in Bermuda. "We always get rather concerned when our crew doesn’t report to us in a timely manner," Togeretz said. "But I will say that again, optimistically and positively, that doesn’t mean that the worst has happened."
Latitude's planes typically operate with two pilots, a nurse, and a respiratory therapist, and sometimes a physician. The identities of the six individuals aboard the missing aircraft are not yet known.
Flight tracking data indicated the plane experienced a rapid descent, dropping from approximately 25,000 feet to around 11,000 feet shortly after 1 a.m. The last recorded signal from the aircraft was around 1:30 a.m., shortly before its scheduled landing in Boston.
Search efforts are concentrated near Nantucket, Massachusetts, with crews from Cape Cod, Brant Point, and William Sparling responding. The Coast Guard confirmed that air and boating crews are involved in the search operations.
Latitude Air Ambulance, a Canadian company founded in 2009, provides services for transporting patients to hospitals and returning them to their home countries. The company operates a fleet of 10 aircraft, including four Gulfstream G100 models. 
