The US Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for a medical transport plane that crashed off Massachusetts, and all six people aboard are presumed dead, The Guardian reported. The Gulfstream G100 was flying from Bermuda to Boston.
Search suspended; passengers identified
The Coast Guard located a debris field near Nantucket on Saturday and suspended its search the next day. Latitude Air Ambulance, the Canadian operator, said the four crew members, patient and family escort aboard the aircraft were presumed to have died.
Bermuda Police identified the patient as Marilyn Lavonne Bean, 66, and her son, 41-year-old Sergio Wayne Lottimore. The agency said both were Bermuda citizens and that it had appointed a liaison officer to assist their relatives. The four crew members were identified as Canadian citizens; their names had not been released.
Final communications and investigation
The Guardian reported that controllers had difficulty communicating with the flight. In a recording captured by LiveATC.net, a controller asked whether the pilot was “coming in blind” and whether an emergency was being declared; the pilot’s response was not audible. Radio transmissions reportedly included electrical failures as the aircraft neared Nantucket.
FlightAware data cited by the newspaper showed the plane descending thousands of feet within three minutes before disappearing from radar shortly after about 1am local time. The report separately says the aircraft lost contact with ground authorities at about 2am Saturday. It does not establish the cause of the crash.
Latitude said it would cooperate with the US National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and other authorities on recovery efforts and the investigation.
Source: The Guardian.
