Debris Found After Medical Plane Vanishes; Air Traffic Audio Captures Last Contact
Debris from a Canadian medical plane that disappeared during a flight from Bermuda to Boston has been discovered off the Massachusetts coast, according to an update cited by The New York Post.
Crews from the Boston-based Coast Guard cutter William Sparling reached the scene and were sifting through the wreckage to identify parts of the aircraft. The plane was carrying six people.
The aircraft was a Canadian-registered Gulfstream G-100 operating as an air ambulance. It departed Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport early Saturday morning. The Bermuda Skyport Corporation said the plane took off around 12:41 a.m. with four crew members and two passengers.
Four Canadians and two Bermudians were reportedly on board. ABC News reported that no Americans were on the plane.
The plane was traveling toward Boston when it plunged 10,000 feet before losing communication with the Federal Aviation Administration shortly after 1:20 a.m., according to the report. Fox News reported that the FAA issued a search-and-rescue alert. ABC News separately reported that the Coast Guard was informed of the lost contact around 2 a.m.
Air traffic control audio obtained by ABC News captured the moments before communication was lost. The controller had trouble hearing the pilots and repeatedly asked them to repeat their messages, including their altitude.
“You’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” the air traffic controller asked.
The controller then said, “You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not.”
The air ambulance was reportedly in contact with New York controllers when it declared an emergency. The audio shows the controller trying to clarify what the pilots were saying as communication weakened.
After the medical plane stopped responding, the controller asked a nearby Ethiopian Airlines flight to try to reach it. That attempt also received no response, according to the audio account.
The Coast Guard search initially focused on the waters off Massachusetts. The discovery of debris gives crews physical evidence to examine as they work to identify what remains of the aircraft.
The report does not provide a cause for the plane’s disappearance. It lays out a troubling sequence: a steep loss of altitude, increasingly difficult radio communication, an apparent emergency declaration, and then silence.
The latest update confirms that debris was located, but the source does not state whether anyone aboard survived or provide additional details about the aircraft’s condition.