The U.S. Coast Guard has found and identified debris from a medical plane that went missing off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. There were six people on board the Gulfstream G100, and the search for them is ongoing, the Coast Guard said.
“Coast Guard search teams have located the wreckage and confirmed it is from the missing plane. The search for the six people on board is ongoing,“ the agency said in a statement.
Four of the people on board are Canadian citizens and two are citizens of the Bermuda Islands. Their next of kin have been notified. The plane was performing a medical evacuation from “L. F. Wade“ in Bermuda to “Logan“ Airport in Boston. According to “Boston Globe“, there were a patient, his relative and a four-member crew on board.
The pilot reported electrical problems
The plane disappeared in the early hours of Saturday, October 3. Data cited by “Boston Globe“ indicate that contact with it was lost around 1:00 a.m. local time, and at about 1:20 a.m. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a search alert. At 2:00 a.m., the agency notified the Coast Guard of the missing plane.
In radio communications before the disappearance, a dispatcher can be heard asking the pilot if the plane was “coming in blind“ and whether to declare an emergency. According to reports, the pilot reported electrical problems, after which the connection was lost. Flight tracking data also showed a sharp descent from about 24,000 feet to approximately 10,000 feet in a matter of minutes. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined.
Search continues through the night
The Coast Guard used planes, helicopters and vessels in the operation south of Nantucket. About 1,644 square miles of water area had been searched by the time the wreckage was found. The cutter William Sparling remained in the area to continue the search for the six people overnight and Sunday.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has begun gathering information about the case. The investigation into the cause of the disappearance is ongoing, while rescue teams continue to search for those who were on board.
Sources: NBC Boston, Boston Globe