Six presumed dead after debris found from missing Gulfstream G100 air ambulance

Six people are presumed dead after a Gulfstream G100 air ambulance flying a patient from Bermuda to Boston disappeared over the Atlantic.

The US Coast Guard has suspended its search after crews found an extensive debris field from the aircraft around 20 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Latitude Air Ambulance operated the Canadian-registered Gulfstream G100, registration C-GRJP. It was flying from Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport to Boston Logan International Airport when air traffic control lost contact early on Saturday, 3 October.

Four Canadian crew members and two Bermudian passengers – a patient and a family escort – were aboard.

The US Coast Guard is continuing to search for a missing G100 C-GRJP, which lost contact en route to Boston. https://t.co/Yv3BmlmJco https://t.co/TYXdccMR9y

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 3, 2026

The US Coast Guard suspended the search at sunset on Sunday after covering 4,445 miles over 66 hours of continuous operations.

“Suspending a search is not an easy decision,” Rear Admiral Matthew Lake, commander of the Coast Guard’s 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.”

Debris from Gulfstream found south of Nantucket

The Federal Aviation Administration alerted the Coast Guard at around 2 am on Saturday after air traffic controllers lost contact with the Gulfstream.

The Coast Guard found a debris field that it confirmed was associated with the missing aircraft.

Rear Admiral Lake said during a Sunday briefing that the debris was found approximately 20 miles south of Nantucket. The water in the area is around 80 to 90ft deep.

The Coast Guard continued its search for survivors using fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters. 

Agencies and equipment participating in the search included:

• An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aeroplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
• An HC-130 Hercules crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
• An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
• 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crews from Coast Guard Station Brant Point
• The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter William Sparling, a Boston-based Fast Response Cutter
• Two HH-60 helicopter crews from the New York Air National Guard’s 106^th Rescue Wing
• An HC-130 aircraft from the New York Air National Guard’s 106^th Rescue Wing

Search and rescue turns towards recovery

The operation has now moved from search and rescue towards recovery.

“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,” Latitude Air Ambulance said in a statement published following the Coast Guard decision.

Latitude president Peter Byl described the accident as “an unimaginable loss for our Latitude family and for everyone who loved the six people aboard Heartbeat 104.”

The company said it would cooperate with the US National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and other authorities as the recovery and investigation proceed.

Medical flight had departed Bermuda shortly after midnight

The aircraft departed LF Wade International Airport at approximately 12:41 am local time on Saturday.

Bermuda’s government initially confirmed that six people were aboard and said it was in contact with their families and authorities coordinating the search.

Premier David Burt said during the search that his thoughts were with everyone aboard and their families.

The aircraft was operating as Heartbeat 104. Latitude Air Ambulance is a Canadian medical transport provider based in Ontario that conducts domestic and international medical evacuation and patient transport flights.

Gulfstream crew reported electrical problems

Air traffic control recordings indicate the crew experienced electrical problems before losing contact.

According to Associated Press reporting, the pilot declared an emergency as the aircraft approached the US coast.

A controller can be heard asking the crew: “Roger, you said you’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?”

Communications subsequently deteriorated.

Flight-tracking data shows that the Gulfstream descended rapidly from its cruising altitude of around 24,000ft shortly before disappearing.

However, investigators have not yet established what caused the accident. Attention will now turn to determining what happened during the final minutes of the flight.

Latitude said determining the circumstances and cause “is a careful and methodical process” and that it would not speculate.

Recovery of the aircraft will be important to the investigation. Authorities had been working to bring sonar-equipped vessels to the debris area to examine the seabed.

The NTSB and Canadian TSB are expected to work with other authorities to establish the sequence of events leading to the loss of the Gulfstream jet.