“Are you coming blindly? Is that what you said?” a controller asked the pilot around 12:46 a.m., “Are you declaring an emergency or not?” As the plane approached Nantucket, its pilot reported electrical failures, according to radio transmissions. Data from the FlightAware website shows the plane descended thousands of feet in three minutes. Shortly after, around one in the morning, it disappeared completely from the radar. The crew members are Canadian citizens and the passengers are Bermudian nationals, according to Clarence Togeretz, chief operating officer of Latitude Air Ambulance, the Ontario company that operates the Gulfstream G100. Steven MacKinnon, head of Canada’s public transportation agency, declined to identify the people aboard the flight. The Bermuda Gazette reported that the two passengers on board were a patient and his son. In a statement, the Bermuda government said it was in contact with the passengers’ families and American search teams. “We are praying that all six people are found safe,” said Bermuda Premier David Burt. The plane left LF Wade International Airport in Bermuda for the 800-mile flight to Boston at 11:41 p.m. Friday, said airport spokeswoman Ciara Eve. Bermuda, a self-governing British territory, is one hour ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. As the plane descended toward the Atlantic, air traffic controllers asked to confirm whether they were declaring an emergency. “You came in a little weak, so I didn’t hear what your response was, whether you were declaring an emergency or not,” the air traffic controller said. He later confirmed that the pilot declared an emergency, but had trouble reestablishing contact with the aircraft. The controller asked the pilot of a second plane if the Gulfstream G100 was visible in his collision avoidance system. But the second plane was flying at a much higher altitude and could not detect signals from the jet, the pilot said. For much of the flight, the Gulfstream plane traveled at about 24,000 feet, but at around 1:04 a.m., FlightAware data shows the plane descended 13,000 feet in three minutes. With the plane about 80 miles south of Nantucket at 1:06 a.m., a Logan International Airport dispatcher ordered crews to prepare on the tarmac for the plane. He said he was due to land in 15 minutes and had lost “radio and radar,” according to radio transmissions captured by Broadcastify. Emergency crews moved into position and waited. At 1:20 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert, an agency spokesperson said. The plane would not land at Logan and a search and rescue mission had been launched. On the runway at Logan, the commander of Massport Fire Rescue heard a radio transmission reporting that air traffic control said it could no longer see the plane on radar. “I don’t know if they monitored the tower radio, but the tower lost radar contact with this plane,” the commander said over the radio around 1:36 a.m. “Roger, got it. I was listening,” the dispatcher said. Emergency crews on the runway were ordered to return to their headquarters. At 2 a.m., the FAA alerted the U.S. Coast Guard about the missing plane. On Nantucket, police searched the island’s airport for the missing plane but found nothing, Lt. Angus MacVicar said. At dawn, officers and the harbor master began combing Nantucket’s south shore aboard all-terrain vehicles for signs of the plane, he said. Gov. Maura Healey said Saturday that her “thoughts and prayers are with everyone on board and everyone involved.” “We will do everything we can as a state to support the efforts there and work with the Coast Guard,” Healey said at a labor rally in Dorchester. Globe staff Chris Van Buskirk and John R. Ellement contributed to this report. You can contact Laura Crimaldi at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her @lauracrimaldi. You can contact Rita Chandler at rita.chandler@globe.com. You can contact Camilo Fonseca at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
