US authorities are racing to locate a small medical jet that disappeared from radar early Saturday morning while flying toward Boston, Massachusetts. The Federal Aviation Administration says it lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 aircraft and issued a search-and-rescue alert around 1 a.m. local time. The Coast Guard’s Northeast District is now combing the waters and skies near Nantucket, an island roughly 50 km (30 miles) off the Massachusetts coast, for any sign of the plane.
The aircraft had taken off from Bermuda, bound for Boston’s Logan International Airport, and belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company that flies patients home for medical care. According to the company’s flight operations director, the crew had traveled to Bermuda to pick up a patient and a family member. Two Canadian pilots and two Canadian medical staff were also on board, bringing the total to six people.
Flight-tracking data shows the plane suddenly dropped from about 7,300 meters (24,000 feet) to 3,300 meters (11,000 feet) before communications cut out. Recorded radio exchanges suggest the pilot struggled to respond clearly to air traffic control, who asked repeatedly whether an emergency was being declared. A local fire dispatcher later told emergency crews to prepare for a plane with an electrical problem, adding that it had lost both radio and radar contact.
Search efforts continue as officials work to determine what happened. You can read the BBC’s full report for the latest updates on the search.
Source: Medical plane with 6 on board missing off Massachusetts coast (feeds.bbci.co.uk).
Image: Coast Guard News, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).