Jet disappearance: Six passengers presumed dead as US Coast Guard suspends search for medical transport plane
The terrifying final moments before a plane disappeared from radars on Saturday morning have been revealed as authorities provide an update.
Six people are presumed dead after the terrifying final moments on board a private medical transport plane have been revealed, before it vanished off the east coast of the US en route from Bermuda to Boston on Saturday morning.
The aircraft, operated by Canadian medical evacuation and repatriation company Latitude Air Ambulance, went missing from radars at 1.30am local time.
An initial search by the US Coast Guard located a debris field in the ocean near the island of Nantucket.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Coast Guard search crews located a debris field that has been confirmed to be associated with the missing aircraft,” a spokesperson said in a press release at the time.
“Crews are continuing to search for the six people who were aboard the aircraft.”
However, the search was called off a day later under the assumption that all those on board perished in a devastating crash.
“Suspending a search is not an easy decision,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Matthew Lake said in a statement.
“We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by the tragedy and our gratitude for our partner agencies who helped support search efforts.”
The Federal Aviation Administration informed the Coast Guard it had lost contact with a GulfstreamG100 with the tail number C-GRJP at approximately 2am on Saturday.
Air traffic controllers had difficulty communicating with the aircraft in the final moments leading up to its disappearance.
“You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said?” a controller asked the pilot at about 12.46am. “Are you declaring an emergency, or no?”
According to a recording captured by LiveATC.net, the pilot’s response was not audible.
Radio transmissions then recorded conversation about electrical failures as the plane neared Nantucket.
Data from the flight tracking site FlightAware then shows the plane plummeting thousands of feet in the three minutes before it vanished from the radar.
The Coast Guard released the identities of the presumed dead passengers and crew on Monday morning, revealing those on board the tragic flight were a team of four Canadians and two Bermudian passengers, including the injured evacuee and a family escort.
Latitude acknowledged the choice of the Coast Guard to call off the search for the crew they named as Heartbeat 104.
“Given the information shared by authorities and the conclusion of the search and rescue phase, we must now face the heartbreaking reality that the four members of our Latitude team, our patient and the patient’s family escort, who were aboard Heartbeat 104, are presumed to have died,” the company’s statement said.
Latitude said it will “cooperate fully” with US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Transportation Safety Board of Canada on recovery efforts and investigations into the plane’s presumed crash.
