The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday suspended its search for six people aboard a medical jet that went missing near Nantucket, Massachusetts.

“The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the people aboard the medical transport aircraft that went missing around 2 a.m. Saturday, as of sunset, after 66 hours of continuous searching by the Coast Guard and partner agencies,” the Coast Guard stated.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones,” it added.

CBS News shared further:

Search and rescue crews operated for approximately 66 hours to locate four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals on the plane that was traveling to Boston from Bermuda early Saturday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Canadian-registered air ambulance jet had four crew members and two passengers aboard. Their next of kin have been notified, the Coast Guard said.

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Earlier, the Coast Guard confirmed that a debris field belonging to the missing Gulfstream G-100 was found Saturday night. The search for the missing passengers continued overnight off the coast of Nantucket, according to the Coast Guard’s Northeast District, and spanned 4,445 miles before it was suspended.

The Coast Guard outlined the extensive assets involved in the search, including an HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane, an HC-130 Hercules airplane, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and the FRC William Sparling, a Sentinel-class fast response cutter.

“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,” Canada-based Latitude Air Ambulance said in a statement, according to NBC News.

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

“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,” he added.

NBC News has more:

Latitude Air Ambulance said the Coast Guard’s decision to “conclude active search and rescue operations and transition to recovery efforts” was received with “profound sadness.”

The company, which arranges private flights for sick or injured patients, said of its employees: “They dedicated themselves to providing care to people at some of the most difficult moments in their lives, and they were carrying out that mission when this tragedy occurred. We are grieving their loss deeply.”

The jet disappeared about 2 a.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard said, adding that searchers scoured 4,445 miles. The Coast Guard, Massachusetts authorities and the New York National Guard’s air rescue wing were involved in the search, Lake said at a news conference earlier Sunday.

“This is a large and demanding search area. Our crews are employing fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters to search the area,” Lake said. He added authorities hoped to use sonar to search the seabed.

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Authorities declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, and Lake declined to provide the passengers’ names or ages “out of respect to the families and next of kin.”

The flight was scheduled to last less than two hours, according to data from FlightAware, a site that tracks flights in real time. The jet took off from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda at about 12:40 a.m. and was due to land at Boston Logan International Airport just before 1:30 a.m. Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic, about 775 miles from Boston.

At around 1:05 a.m., FlightAware shows the jet dropping from 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean.

 

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