U.S. Coast Guard releases names of crew, passengers aboard missing Hamilton-based air ambulance

The U.S. Coast Guard has released the names of all six people aboard a missing Hamilton-based air ambulance plane that went down off the coast of Massachusetts on the weekend.

A news release late Monday named four Canadian crew members employed by air medical transport company Latitude Air Ambulance and two Bermudian residents.

Latitude Air Ambulance delivers specialized medical evacuation and patient transport services in Canada and internationally.

The Gulfstream G100 – called Heartbeat 104 Medevac by Latitude – was flying from Bermuda to Boston with a patient and a family member when it lost contact with air-traffic control early Saturday.

READ MORE: ‘Heartbreaking reality’: Six aboard missing Hamilton-based air ambulance presumed dead

The Canadians have been identified as captain Philip Gregory Childerhose, first officer Thomas Henry Farquhar, flight nurse Sarah Jane Paton and respiratory therapist Jolene Beth Weir.

Marilyn Lavonne Bean and her son Sergio Wayne Lottimore were identified as the Bermudian locals.

“To all of us at Latitude, our crew were much more than names. They were colleagues, friends and members of our family. Each brought something special to our company, to the people they worked beside, and to the patients and families entrusted to their care,” said Peter Byl, president of Latitude Air Ambulance.

Captain Childerhose reported electrical problems and declared an emergency as the plane approached the U.S. coast. 

Preliminary flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows that the aircraft rapidly descended from a cruising altitude of about 24,000 feet to around 10,000 feet.

The coast guard said debris from the plane was recovered over 30 kilometres off of Nantucket. The initial search ended Sunday and covered over 7,000 kilometres of ocean, from on the water and in the air.

Officials said Monday a civilian vessel also found remnants of Heartbeat 104.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has taken over the investigation and has sent crews to Massachusetts to help search for and recover the rest of the plane.

“We are grateful to the crews and partner agencies who quickly responded to this incident, and we will continue to support our Canadian partners as they conduct their investigation,” said Rear Adm. Matthew Lake from the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Finding the aircraft, locating the flight data recorder … the black box if you will, we’re hoping a lot of the information that we will require to determine exactly what happened and why, will be found in that equipment,” said Craig Johnston of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

“Our colleagues dedicated themselves to helping people at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. We want their families to know that we will remember not simply how we lost them, but how they lived, how they served, and what they meant to the people around them,” said Byl.

The medical transport company also extended its respect and condolences to the families and loved ones of the patient and family escort.

Latitude said in a statement that the company will continue to cooperate fully with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, and “all other relevant authorities as recovery efforts and the investigation proceed.”

READ MORE: U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for missing Hamilton-based air ambulance, passengers