U.S. Coast Guard says Hamilton-based air ambulance carrying six people is missing

A Hamilton-based air ambulance carrying six people, including four Canadians, has gone missing off the U.S. coast

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lost contact with the jet early Saturday morning while it was travelling from Bermuda to Boston. This triggered the U.S. Coast Guard to launch a search mission.

According to a social media post by the coast guard, both air and ground crews are actively searching off the coast of Nantucket, an island roughly 150 kilometres southeast of Boston.

The aircraft is a Gulfstream G100 jet belonging to Latitude Air Ambulance, a Hamilton-based medical evacuation company.

Clarence Togeretz, the company’s operations manager, told The Canadian Press that the aircraft was carrying a patient, a family member, two pilots, and two medical crew members.

Togeretz went on to say that the four crew members are Canadian, while the two passengers are Bermuda nationals.

Latitude was tracking the flight and lost contact with it around 1:30 a.m. Saturday as it approached Boston. Togeretz says the company reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard when the plane failed to reach the tarmac.

The operations manager stated that this is the first time the company has lost contact with one of its planes.

Ornge, Ontario’s air ambulance provider, expressed hope in a Saturday social media post that “the aircraft and all passengers are located safely and quickly.”

In an email to CHCH News, former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General and aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said, “This aircraft was dealt a dire one-two punch: a safety critical in-flight problem, followed almost immediately by a perilous weather event and an 11,000-foot plunge.”

Togeretz noted that Latitude Air Ambulance is coordinating with Transport Canada.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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