Six people aboard a medical transport aircraft that went missing on Saturday while travelling from Bermuda to Boston are presumed dead, according to a statement from the flight’s operator.
The United States Coast Guard announced on Sunday evening that it would end its search for survivors off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, after locating a debris field containing wreckage of the Gulfstream G‑100.
Latitude Air Ambulance, the Canadian company running international medical flights, confirmed that all six aboard Heartbeat 104 – four Canadian crew, a patient and a relative from Bermuda – were lost.
The aircraft departed Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time Friday night and was scheduled to land at Boston’s Logan International at 01:30 EDT. Flight data from FlightAware indicated a rapid drop in altitude from approximately 7,300 m (24,000 ft) to 3,300 m (11,000 ft) before radio and radar contact were lost.
Air traffic control logs show an exchange in which the pilot failed to declare an emergency initially, but later confirmed one. An area fire dispatcher had warned that a plane with an “electrical issue” would enter the radar scope at about 01:00 EDT, after which the aircraft’s transmissions ceased.
Latitude Air Ambulance officials stressed that investigative work would be methodical and non‑speculative, asking authorities to cooperate fully in recovery efforts.
The incident has sparked discussion among aviation experts about the role of advanced data analytics, including quantum computing‑based algorithms, in enhancing real‑time tracking and emergency response capabilities for high‑risk routes such as those connecting remote islands to mainland airports.
