Ontario air ambulance Atlantic search: ‘Roger, you said you’re coming in blind?’ Pilot’s final warning before jet vanished while flying from Bermuda to Boston

Ontario air ambulance Atlantic search: On Saturday, Gulfstream G100, operated by Hamilton, Ont.-based Latitude Air Ambulance, disappeared early Saturday morning while flying from Bermuda to Boston. The air ambulance carrying six people may have been “coming in blind” with electrical problems when a storm loomed ahead before it suddenly vanished in the waters off Nantucket.

According to a news report in AP, the pilot reported electrical problems and declared an emergency as it approached the coast on the flight from Bermuda, according to air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net. “Roger, you said you’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” a controller can be heard asking the pilot.

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The U.S. Coast Guard said it was first notified by the Federal Aviation Administration at about 2 a.m. that day that contact had been lost with the aircraft.

The Canadian-registered air ambulance jet had four crew members and two passengers aboard when it departed Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport overnight for the flight to Massachusetts, according to a statement from the Bermuda airport's operator, Skyport. Four of the six people on board the flight that went missing early Saturday were Canadian nationals, the country’s Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said on X. Transport Canada is closely monitoring and working with authorities on search and rescue efforts, he said.

The Coast Guard said crews found a debris field off the coast of Nantucket, Mass., where they had been searching on Saturday and informed the family members.

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Ontario air ambulance Atlantic search

On Sunday, Rear-Adm. Matthew W. Lake said they had been searching for about 53 hours and confirmed that the debris field has been determined to be associated with the aircraft. Lake described the search area as “large and demanding,” saying crews would continue to evaluate all available information as the operation progresses.

The Coast Guard said the Federal Aviation Administration reported that the Gulfstream G100 had lost contact very early Saturday morning. The search for the jet included crews in the air and on the water, the Coast Guard said.

“The area around the debris field is approximately 80 to 90 feet,” he said.

“Our priority is to locate the six personnel on that aircraft. My thoughts and those of every Coast Guard crew member are with the families on that aircraft.”

Weather has not been a factor in the search efforts, added Coast Guard Capt. John McTamney, chief of response for the northeast district.

“We’ll continue to search and saturate the area until we’re at the point where we are confident that if there were any survivors remaining on the surface of the water, we would have found them,” he said. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the situation Saturday, but did not say immediately if it would investigate.

US Coast Guard suspends operations

The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for a medical transport aircraft from Ontario that went missing over the Atlantic Ocean this weekend. The federal agency announced the decision in a press release on Sunday.

“Suspending a search is not an easy decision,” Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, Commander of the Northeast District, said. “We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by the tragedy and our gratitude for our partner agencies who helped support search efforts.”

The Coast Guard said any future investigation into the cause of the incident will be “coordinated by the appropriate investigative authorities.” Over approximately 66 hours, the Coast Guard and its partner agencies searched 4,445 miles (7,154 kilometres) of the Atlantic Ocean.

The search involved multiple Coast Guard and National Guard crews and aircraft. These included an HC-144 Ocean Sentry, an HC-130 Hercules and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, along with 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crews from Coast Guard Station Brant Point.

The Coast Guard Cutter William Sparling and a Boston-based Fast Response Cutter also participated in the operation. The New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing contributed two HH-60 helicopter crews and an HC-130 aircraft to the search effort.

Are the passengers dead?

In a follow-up statement issued on Sunday regarding its aircraft known as “Heartbeat 104 Medevac,” Latitude Air Ambulance acknowledged the decision by the U.S. Coast Guard to “conclude active search and rescue operations and transition to recovery efforts.”

“Given the information shared by authorities and the conclusion of the search and rescue phase, we must now face the heartbreaking reality that the four members of our Latitude team, our patient and the patient’s family escort, who were aboard Heartbeat 104, are presumed to have died,” they wrote.

“This is an unimaginable loss for our Latitude family and for everyone who loved the six people aboard Heartbeat 104,” the company’s president, Peter Byl, said.

“Our focus now is on supporting their families, supporting our people and assisting the authorities. We will honour our colleagues by remembering the care, professionalism, and commitment they brought to their work every day.”

Latitude Air Ambulance said its four crew members were valued and expressed its gratitude to all who “worked tirelessly” in the search for the “professionalism, determination, and compassion” that “never be forgotten.”

“They dedicated themselves to providing care to people at some of the most difficult moments in their lives, and they were carrying out that mission when this tragedy occurred,” it wrote.

The Canadian air medical transport provider went on to say that its thoughts are with the families, loved ones, friends and colleagues of those who were on the plane.