By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The U.S. Coast Guard located debris Saturday night from a Canadian medical transport aircraft that disappeared off Massachusetts while carrying six people from Bermuda to Boston, shifting an extensive search toward the wreckage area off Nantucket while crews continued looking for those aboard.
The debris was confirmed as belonging to the missing Gulfstream G-100, which vanished early Saturday after its crew declared an emergency and experienced increasingly difficult radio communications with air traffic controllers. Crews aboard the Boston-based Coast Guard Cutter William Sparling reached the area and began examining wreckage from the aircraft, according to an updated New York Post report.
The Coast Guard continued searching for the six occupants after the debris field was found. Four Canadians and two Bermudians were aboard the flight, meaning no Americans were among those on the aircraft, according to officials.
The Canadian-registered air ambulance departed L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda at approximately 12:41 a.m. Saturday with four crew members and two passengers. It was traveling to Boston when controllers lost contact with it during the early morning hours.
The aircraft was operated as a medical transport flight. Bermuda Skyport Corporation, which operates the island’s international airport, said the plane departed with four crew members and two passengers.
Flight information indicated the Gulfstream descended sharply as it approached the northeastern United States. Reports initially described the aircraft as dropping more than 10,000 feet before communications were lost, while later information cited by ABC News indicated investigators believed it rapidly descended about 7,500 feet before hitting the water.
The Federal Aviation Administration notified the Coast Guard after communication with the aircraft was lost and a search-and-rescue response was initiated. The incident was also reported by Fox News as air and sea assets were deployed off the Massachusetts coast.
The last communications between the cockpit and air traffic controllers provided indications that the crew was experiencing a serious problem before contact ended.
The medical jet was communicating with New York air traffic controllers when the crew declared an emergency, according to air traffic communications. Controllers repeatedly had difficulty hearing transmissions from the aircraft and sought clarification about its condition, altitude and the nature of the emergency.
“You’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” an air traffic controller asked the pilot.
As the transmissions became weaker, the controller again tried to establish what was happening aboard the aircraft.
“You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not,” the controller said.
The exchanges can be heard in air traffic control audio from the final communications.
When the Gulfstream stopped answering controllers, attempts were made to establish contact through another aircraft in the area. A nearby Ethiopian Airlines flight was asked to try reaching the medical jet but received no response.
Emergency personnel at Boston Logan International Airport had been alerted as the aircraft approached Massachusetts because of the developing problem, but the Gulfstream never arrived.
The Federal Aviation Administration told the Coast Guard that contact with the aircraft had been lost at approximately 2 a.m., according to the Coast Guard. Earlier flight-tracking and communications reports placed the loss of reliable contact shortly after 1:20 a.m. as the plane approached the Massachusetts coast.
The Coast Guard subsequently launched an extensive search using aircraft and vessels around Nantucket. The agency continued searching throughout Saturday before confirming that a debris field associated with the Gulfstream had been located.
An updated ABC News report said the Coast Guard planned to continue searching through the night for the six people who had been aboard.
“The U.S. Coast Guard was searching the waters off Massachusetts for a missing medical transfer plane with six people on board that went missing on Saturday morning,” ABC News reported earlier in the day.
The outlet reported that the aircraft was in contact with New York controllers when its crew declared the emergency. Controllers asked the pilots several times to repeat transmissions, including information concerning the plane’s altitude, because communications had become difficult to understand.
The discovery of debris Saturday night confirmed that the missing aircraft had gone down, but authorities had not announced the recovery of any of the six occupants as search operations continued.
The four Canadian occupants included members of the flight and medical crew, while the two Bermudians were reported to be a patient and a relative accompanying that patient on the medical transfer.
The Gulfstream G-100 is a twin-engine business jet that can be configured for medical evacuation and air-ambulance operations. Such aircraft are routinely equipped to transport patients over long distances while allowing medical personnel to provide care during flight.
The circumstances that caused the emergency remained under investigation. The deteriorating communications, rapid descent and reports of problems aboard the aircraft are expected to be examined alongside flight data, maintenance information, weather conditions and recovered wreckage as authorities work to determine what occurred during the final minutes of the flight.
The Coast Guard said its immediate priority remained the search for the six people who had been traveling aboard the aircraft as crews worked through the debris field off Nantucket.
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