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The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for an Ontario-based air ambulance that went missing Saturday with six people on board, including four Canadians.
The Gulfstream G100 jet, identified as C-GRJP, was flying from Bermuda and was scheduled to land at Boston Logan International Airport around 1:30 a.m., according to the tracking website Flightradar24.
The jet is registered to Latitude Air Ambulance, an Ontario-based company that operates out of John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, according to the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register.
Air and surface teams are searching for the aircraft off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, said the U.S. Coast Guard’s northeast division in a post on social media platform X.
It said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had reported losing contact with the jet in the early hours of Saturday.
Five teams are assisting in the search, the Coast Guard said, including an airplane and helicopter crew from Cape Cod, a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Brant Point and the William Sparling patrol ship.
Crew on board are Canadian: company spokesperson
The crew of the air ambulance — two pilots and two medical staff — are Canadian, said Clarence Togeretz, director of flight operations at Latitude.
They had flown to Bermuda to collect a patient and their relative, who are not Canadian, Togeretz told CBC in a phone call.
The company lost contact with the jet around 1:30 a.m., Togeretz said, adding they are staying optimistic that everyone will be safely found.
The jet’s last trip was from Hamilton to the North Atlantic island of Bermuda on Friday evening, according to flight history on Flightradar24. Before Friday and Saturday’s flights, the jet had flown within Canada over the past week.
According to Latitude’s website, the company works with global insurance companies, governments and other organizations to provide medical evacuation and repatriation services.
It said each air ambulance flight is staffed with two pilots and a medical team trained to provide any necessary care to patients. The company has four Gulfstream G100 jets in its fleet of 10 aircraft.
Flight was not related to Ontario air ambulance transport
Joshua McNamara, a spokesperson for Ontario-based air ambulance service Ornge, said the company was “deeply concerned” by reports of the missing Latitude Air Ambulance flight.
The flight was not an Ontario air ambulance transport and not related to Ornge operations, he told CBC News in an emailed statement.
“Our thoughts are with the crew, passengers, their families, and everyone at Latitude Air Ambulance during this difficult time,” he said.
“We remain hopeful that the aircraft and all those on board are located safely and quickly.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is gathering information on the missing jet to assess what has happened, spokesperson Hugo Fontaine said in an email to CBC News.
CBC News has contacted Transportation Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for further information.
