The Coast Guard has identified six people aboard a medical transport plane lost off Nantucket after crews found debris and suspended the multi-day search.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday released the names of four Canadians who were among the six people on a medical transport aircraft that went missing early Saturday on a flight from Bermuda to Boston.
ABC News reported that the Canadians were Philip Gregory Childerhose, Thomas Henry Farquhar, Sarah Jane Paton, and Jolene Beth Weir. Bermuda authorities had already identified the other two as Bermudian nationals Marilyn Lavonne Bean, 66, and her son, Sergio Wayne Lottimore, 41.
Debris from the aircraft was located about 20 miles off the coast of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. The Coast Guard suspended the search on Sunday after covering roughly 2,840 square miles over 53 hours.
The Canadian-registered plane left LF Wade International Airport in Bermuda around 12:41 a.m. Saturday with four crew members and two passengers, according to the Bermuda Skyport Corporation, which operates the airport.
It went missing shortly after 1 a.m. ET. The Federal Aviation Administration notified the Coast Guard around 2 a.m. that air traffic controllers had lost contact, and the search began soon after.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the aircraft was approaching the Boston area when trouble hit.
In a Monday release, the board stated:
"The aircraft departed Bermuda with six occupants and was approaching the Boston area when the crew reported electrical difficulties. The aircraft subsequently descended rapidly and contact with air traffic control was lost south of Nantucket,"
Air traffic audio obtained by ABC News showed the plane in contact with New York controllers and declaring an emergency. Controllers described communication problems. A nearby Ethiopian Airlines jet was asked to try reaching the air ambulance. There was no response.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News that officials believe the plane rapidly descended 7,500 feet before hitting the water.
On Saturday, the Coast Guard announced it had located a debris field from the lost aircraft off Nantucket and kept searching with air and sea units. The cutter William Sparling continued the effort overnight.
By Sunday, the service suspended the operation. Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, commander of the Northeast District, spoke at a news conference about the scale of the effort, the debris field, and the limits of what crews could still do.
Lake said the debris field sat about 80 to 90 feet deep. The black box had not been recovered at that time. Weather conditions during the search were favorable, he said.
In a Coast Guard statement on the suspension, Lake said:
"Suspending a search is not an easy decision,"
He added:
"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."
The Bermuda Police Service had previously named Bean and Lottimore as the two Bermudians onboard. The Coast Guard’s Monday release completed the public list of all six people on the flight.
Because the aircraft was registered in Canada, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will run the investigation under international agreements. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will serve as accredited representatives.
The Canadian board said in its Monday statement:
"Pursuant to international agreements, the investigation shall be conducted by the State of registry, which is Canada. The TSB will be assisted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as accredited representatives, and in the coming days will deploy investigators to assist in the search and recovery of the aircraft,"
The plane was described as a Gulfstream G100 twin-engine jet. A file photo referenced in coverage showed a Gulfstream G100 Astra SPX operated by Latitude Air Ambulance.
What remains unsettled is the full mechanical and operational chain that turned a medical transport run into a debris field in cold Atlantic water. Investigators still have to recover what they can, read the recorders if they are found, and put a clear cause on a flight that left Bermuda in the dark and never reached Boston.
Six families now have names attached to an empty stretch of ocean. They deserve a straight, complete account of how a medical flight ended there, and institutions that treat that duty as non-negotiable.
