Latitude pledges full cooperation after Nantucket medical flight crash

Coast Guard’s Lake called suspending the search ‘not an easy decision’

A medical transport plane carrying a patient, a family member, and a four-person crew went into the water off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, early Saturday, and the US Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday after determining all six people aboard are presumed dead.

Latitude Air Ambulance, the Canadian company that operated the aircraft, said Sunday it will “cooperate fully” with the US National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, and other authorities on recovery efforts and an investigation into why the plane crashed.

The aircraft — a Gulfstream G100 — took off from Bermuda at 12:41am Saturday bound for Boston, Latitude said. The company identified the flight as “Heartbeat 104.” The patient and family member aboard were citizens of Bermuda; the four-person crew were Canadian citizens.

Air traffic controllers had difficulty communicating with the flight in its final moments, according to a recording captured by LiveATC.net. A controller asked the pilot at about 12:46am: “You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said? Are you declaring an emergency, or no?” The pilot’s response was not audible on the recording.

The plane reported electrical failures as it neared Nantucket, according to radio transmissions. Data from the website FlightAware shows the plane descended thousands of feet within three minutes and disappeared from radar shortly after about 1am local time. The aircraft lost contact with ground authorities at about 2am Saturday, and the Coast Guard later located a debris field near the island.

Coast Guard Rear Adm Matthew Lake, commander of the agency’s northeast district, said in a statement: “Suspending a search is not an easy decision. 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.”

In its own statement, Latitude acknowledged the Coast Guard’s decision to suspend the search for those aboard Heartbeat 104.

“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,” the company said.