Debris Found From Canadian Air Ambulance Off Nantucket as Search for Six Continues
Latest news on WhatsApp أجدد الأخبار على واتساب
U.S. Coast Guard crews have found a debris field linked to a Canadian-registered air ambulance that disappeared over the Atlantic while flying a medical mission from Bermuda to Boston, as the search continued Sunday for the six people who were on board off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The aircraft, a Gulfstream G100 operated by Hamilton, Ontario-based Latitude Air Ambulance, lost contact with air traffic control early Saturday, October 3. It had departed Bermuda and was heading to Boston when the emergency unfolded near the U.S. East Coast.
Six people were aboard: two pilots and two medical crew members, all Canadian, as well as a Bermudian patient and a family member. Authorities said the families of those aboard had been notified as search-and-rescue operations continued.
The disappearance triggered a major air-and-sea search around Nantucket. The U.S. Coast Guard later confirmed that crews had located a debris field associated with the missing aircraft, while one of its cutters remained in the area to continue searching through the night and into Sunday. No announcement had been made that any of the six people aboard had been found.
Air traffic control recordings indicate that the pilot reported electrical problems and declared an emergency before communication was lost. Preliminary flight-tracking information showed the aircraft descending sharply from about 24,000 feet to around 10,000 feet before disappearing.
The aircraft was approaching an area of unsettled weather at the time, but authorities have not determined an official cause. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board was gathering information about the incident, while Canadian authorities were working with their American counterparts as the search continued.
Canadian Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said authorities were closely following the operation, while Bermuda officials were also coordinating with agencies involved in the search and maintaining contact with the families affected.
