Updated Oct. 8.
In the early hours Saturday morning, a plane with six passengers went missing 13 miles south of Nantucket. It was only 90 miles, less than an hour, from its destination of Boston.
Before losing contact, the aircraft, an air ambulance with the call sign “Heartbeat 104” transporting a patient from Bermuda to Boston for medical treatment declared an emergency. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a search and rescue alert notice around 1:20 am. What ensued was a mission that spanned 4,445 square miles over 66 hours, and found only a debris field, approximately 20 miles south of Nantucket. The debris was confirmed to be linked to the missing aircraft, but no survivors were found, and all are presumed dead.
The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) confirmed Monday that two Bermudian nationals, a mother and son, were on board the plane. They were identified as Marilyn Lavonne Bean, 66, and her son Sergio Wayne Lottimore, 41, by BPS. Family members told WCVB, an ABC-affiliated television station in Boston, that Bean had suffered a stroke in the past week and was seeking medical care in Boston, and was accompanied on the flight by her son.
The four other passengers were from Canada, according to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and on Monday, they were identified as Philip Gregory Childerhose, Thomas Henry Farquhar, Sarah Jane Paton, and Jolene Beth Weir. The agency also said Monday that a civilian vessel “located debris in the water associated with the aircraft.”
The plane, a Gulfstream G100 (tail number C-GRJP) called Heartbeat 104 Medevac, was an air ambulance transport operated by Latitude Air Ambulance, a Canadian air medical transport provider that delivers specialized medical evacuation. The aircraft came from Bermuda and was headed to Boston, a 2.5-hour flight. It departed from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda, and was supposed to arrive at Boston Logan International Airport.
“This is an unimaginable loss for our Latitude family, and for everyone who loved the six people aboard Heartbeat 104,” Peter Byl, president of Latitude Air Ambulance, said in the release. “Our focus now is on supporting their families, supporting our people, and assisting the authorities. We will honor our colleagues by remembering the care, professionalism, and commitment they brought to their work every day.”
The USCG announced Sunday night that search and rescue efforts had been suspended. The announcement came hours after it held a press conference about mission updates that included details of another debris field found 20 miles from Nantucket.
“Suspending a search is not an easy decision,” Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, commander of the USCG Northeast District, said in a press release. “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.”
Agencies that participated in the search also included New York Air National Guard’s Air Rescue Wing; helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, boats, and cutters were also used.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada, an agency that investigates “occurrences” in all modes of transportation, leads the investigation into the incident.
A press release from Preston Harimon, airport manager of Nantucket Memorial Airport, said that the “aircraft reportedly declared an emergency prior to the loss of contact.” The Nantucket Current reported that according to flight data, the aircraft was cruising at 24,000 feet and then dropped at least 9,000 feet over two minutes before disappearing. Air-traffic audio indicated that the plane may have been “coming in blind,” and that the pilot reported electrical problems, according to the Associated Press.
Latitude Air Ambulance, based in Ontario, released a statement Sunday: “It is with profound sadness that we acknowledge the decision by the [USCG] to conclude active search and rescue operations and transition to recovery efforts.”
The company said they plan to cooperate as recovery efforts and the investigation proceed.
The USCG began its response around 2 am Saturday, and in a press release Saturday night said a “debris field confirmed to be from the aircraft” had been located off the coast of Nantucket. They’d covered, at the time, 1,644 square miles over approximately 27 hours.
“During the search, Coast Guard crews were successfully able to locate a debris field that’s been now determined to be associated with the missing aircraft,” Lake said at a press conference held at Coast Guard Base Boston on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 11 am. The debris field was located in an area 80 to 90 feet deep.
Lt. Commander Kastriot Kastrati said the amount of debris made it hard to “get into the details of what’s there.” But the black box, an aircraft’s flight recorder, hadn’t been located yet.
At the time of the press conference Sunday morning, the search remained ongoing, and 2,840 square miles had been covered over 53.5 hours. Winds at 15 to 20 knots and three-foot seas provided favorable weather for a search, officials said. The plan was to continue to find survivors, said Lt. Commander John McTamney.
“We’ll continue to search and saturate the area until we’re at the point where we are confident that if there were any survivors remaining on the surface of the water, we would have found them,” McTamney said at the press conference.
The priority, Lake said, was to locate the six people on board, and the USCG was keeping “next of kin notified of the progress of our search efforts.” He added, “We’re in the process of working with Massachusetts authorities to get some craft out there that are equipped with sonar, to be able to do some detection on the seabed floor.”
According to data from the National Transportation Safety Board, between 2008 and 2024, there were 31 fatal civil aviation accidents in Massachusetts. Two of those occurred on Martha’s Vineyard, one on Sept. 26, 2008, and the other on July 15, 2023.
“While we held out hope for the best, the worst fears have been realized, and so our first thoughts are with the families of those so tragically lost,” E. David Burt, premier of Bermuda, said in a social media statement. “Let us open our hearts to the families in the hope that our expression of love, support, and compassion will bring some comfort as they attempt to deal with this terrible loss.”
Editor’s note: Updated to include the names of the Canadian passengers of the aircraft, more information about the lead-up to the crash, and that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada leads the investigation.
