The Search Ends
On Sunday evening, the United States Coast Guard said it was ending its search for survivors off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island. Soon after, Latitude Air Ambulance, the company operating the flight, put out a statement. "We must now face the heartbreaking reality," it said, that the four members of its team, the patient and the patient's family escort aboard Heartbeat 104 are presumed to have died. The company added that its thoughts were first with their families, loved ones, friends and colleagues.
The Federal Aviation Administration lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 just after 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Saturday morning. By Saturday evening, authorities had found a debris field confirmed to belong to the aircraft. Four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals were on board.
Peter Byl, President of Latitude Air Ambulance, called it an unimaginable loss for the company and for everyone who loved the six people aboard. He said the focus now is on supporting their families and staff and helping the authorities, and that the company will honour its colleagues by remembering the care, professionalism and commitment they showed every day.
What We Know About the Flight
Latitude Air Ambulance is a Canadian company that flies patients home from abroad. Clarence Togeretz, its director of flight operations, told CBC News that two pilots and two medical staff, all Canadian, had flown to Bermuda to pick up a patient and a relative.
According to FlightAware data, the plane left Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time on Friday night. It was due to land at Boston's Logan International at 01:30 EDT (05:30 GMT). The tracker also shows the aircraft dropped sharply before communications went dark, falling from around 7,300m (24,000ft) to 3,300m (11,000ft).
Trouble Over the Radio
Radio transmissions point to problems between the pilot and air traffic control. The controller was heard asking, "You're coming in blind? Is that what you said?" and then whether the pilot was declaring an emergency. The pilot's reply was inaudible. The controller said the signal was coming in a little weak, and later confirmed the pilot had declared an emergency.
Just after 01:00 EDT, an area fire dispatcher asked emergency crews to get ready to meet a plane with an "electrical issue." The dispatcher later said the aircraft had lost radio and radar.
Latitude said it will keep cooperating with the authorities during recovery efforts and investigations. Working out what caused an aviation accident is a careful and methodical process, the company said, and it will not speculate about what happened.
