US Coast Guard continues search for 6 after finding debris from missing aircraft

US Coast Guard crews and regional emergency teams continued searching Sunday for six people aboard a medical transport plane after finding wreckage off Nantucket, Massachusetts.

“Our priority is to locate the six personnel on that aircraft,” US Coast Guard Northeast Commander Matt Lake told reporters, adding that units were scouring a “large and demanding search area.”

Search operations began at approximately 2.00 am local time (0600GMT) Saturday when the Federal Aviation Administration notified maritime authorities that air traffic controllers had lost contact with a Gulfstream G100 aircraft.

The Latitude Air Ambulance flight was traveling from Bermuda to Boston when it disappeared, carrying four Canadian citizens and two Bermudian nationals.

Search teams located a debris field confirmed to belong to the missing plane approximately 32.2 kilometers (20 miles) off Nantucket in waters 24.4 to 27.4 meters (80 to 90 feet) deep, Lake said.

Authorities were working with Massachusetts state agencies to deploy sonar-equipped vessels to survey the seabed, he added.

“The weather has been, from a search perspective, favorable for searching,” Coast Guard Capt. John McTamney said, citing winds of 15 to 20 knots and waves of about 0.9 meters (3 feet).

Rescue crews from the Coast Guard, Massachusetts authorities and the New York National Guard air rescue wing searched approximately 7,355 square kilometers (2,840 square miles) during roughly 53.5 hours of continuous operations.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Kastriot Kastrati said recovered debris had been safeguarded for investigators.

There were “no indications that we found a black box” among the extensive wreckage, Kastrati added.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand expressed concern over the disappearance. Anand said Global Affairs Canada consular personnel remained in contact with relevant officials and thanked search crews for their efforts.