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The United States Coast Guard announced the suspension of its search and rescue mission for the missing medical transport aircraft on October 4 after more than two days of continuous efforts involving air, sea and partner agencies. Latitude Air Ambulance, the Canadian company that owned and operated the Gulfstream G100, issued a statement shortly afterward presuming the deaths of those on board. “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,” the company said in the announcement. The operator extended its deepest condolences to all families impacted by the tragedy.
According to data compiled by FlightAware, the jet departed Bermuda at 11:41 p.m. on Friday and was en route to Boston when it began its rapid descent around 1:05 a.m. Saturday. The aircraft dropped from its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet to near 11,000 feet within minutes as the pilot reported electrical problems and declared an emergency, air traffic control transcripts obtained by investigators showed. Federal Aviation Administration controllers lost all communication with the plane near 1:20 a.m., prompting immediate activation of search protocols by the Coast Guard. Air traffic audio reviewed by authorities captured a controller asking if the crew was coming in blind amid a storm.
The flight carried two Canadian pilots, two Canadian medical staff, and two Bermudian nationals consisting of a patient being transferred for medical treatment and a family member escorting them, the operator’s operations manager told reporters. All next of kin were notified promptly as the search progressed, according to Rear Adm. Matthew Lake of the Coast Guard’s Northeast district. Canadian Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon posted on social media that his department was closely monitoring developments and coordinating with American counterparts.
A debris field confirmed to belong to the missing jet was identified approximately 20 miles south of Nantucket in an area where ocean depths range from 80 to 90 feet, Coast Guard officials reported during a news conference. Search teams from the agency, along with the Massachusetts authorities, New York Air National Guard and other partners, covered more than 4,400 square miles of ocean in the multi-day operation before determining that no survivors were likely to be found. The decision to suspend came after exhaustive efforts that included cutters, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft operating through the night. Waters in the search area complicated recovery efforts, a Coast Guard assessment found.
Latitude Air Ambulance, headquartered in Ontario, specializes in air ambulance and repatriation services across North America and has completed thousands of patient transport missions since beginning operations in 2009, company information shows. This incident marked the first time that Latitude had lost a plane in its 17-year history, according to operations manager Clarence Togeretz. The flight in question was one such medical evacuation tasked with bringing the Bermudian patient to a Boston hospital for advanced care not available locally. Togeretz confirmed the composition of the crew and passengers in interviews with Canadian media.
A review of recent medical flight incidents by industry trackers noted a crash in New Mexico during a short flight in May that killed four and another involving a Mexican navy plane that crashed into Galveston Bay in Texas in December, killing six. Officials emphasized that the priority throughout the response remained locating the individuals and the aircraft wreckage for further examination, as stated by Lt. Cmdr. Kastriot Kastrati at the Boston-based briefing. The Coast Guard expressed gratitude to all participating agencies for their support in the extensive search.
