Six people were aboard the medical transport jet when it disappeared during a flight from Bermuda to Boston.
BOSTON, MA — The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for six people aboard a medical transport jet that disappeared over the Atlantic after crews found a debris field confirmed to be associated with the aircraft off Nantucket.
The Gulfstream G100 was flying from Bermuda to Boston when air traffic controllers lost contact with it early Saturday. Four Canadian crew members and two Bermudian passengers were aboard. The Coast Guard said crews searched for about 66 hours before suspending the operation at sunset Sunday, covering more than 4,400 square miles with aircraft and vessels.
The discovery of debris shifted part of the operation toward determining what happened to the Canadian-registered aircraft while rescuers continued looking for the people aboard. Search crews found the debris roughly 20 miles off Nantucket in an area where the water is about 80 to 90 feet deep. Officials said Sunday morning that sonar equipment was being brought in to help examine the ocean floor.
The Federal Aviation Administration notified the Coast Guard at about 2 a.m. Saturday that contact had been lost with the Gulfstream. The aircraft was traveling from Bermuda to Boston Logan International Airport on a medical transport flight. Officials said the people aboard included four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals. Their names had not been publicly released.
Latitude Air Ambulance said the flight carried two pilots, two medical staff members, a patient and a family member. The four crew members were Canadian, while the two passengers were from Bermuda. Authorities said relatives of those aboard were kept informed during the search.
Air traffic control communications reported by news organizations indicated that the pilot was experiencing problems before contact was lost and declared an emergency. Flight-tracking data also showed the aircraft descending rapidly before its tracking information ended. Authorities have not announced a cause for the crash, and those details alone do not establish why the aircraft went down.
Coast Guard crews mounted a large air-and-sea response after the aircraft disappeared. The operation involved fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters, along with assistance from the New York Air National Guard and Massachusetts authorities. By Sunday morning, crews had already searched about 2,840 square miles as officials continued to evaluate information about the aircraft’s last known position and the debris field.
Officials said Sunday morning that they were also interested in locating the aircraft’s flight recorders. Coast Guard officials said debris recovered during the operation was being preserved for future investigative work. At that point, officials had not publicly identified the individual aircraft components recovered from the water.
The Coast Guard continued the search through Sunday before announcing that it would suspend operations at sunset after approximately 66 hours of continuous searching. No survivors had been reported when the suspension was announced. Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, commander of the Coast Guard’s Northeast District, said suspending a search was not an easy decision and expressed condolences to the families and loved ones affected.
The cause of the incident remains undetermined. The Coast Guard said an investigation into what happened will be coordinated by the appropriate investigative authorities. The debris and other information gathered during the search could become important evidence as investigators work to establish the aircraft’s final movements and determine why the medical flight failed to reach Boston.
Author note: Last updated October 4, 2026.