Oct 3, 2026 — The U.S. Coast Guard is scouring the waters south of Nantucket for an air-ambulance jet that vanished in the overnight hours with six people aboard, in a disappearance marked by a sudden plunge of more than 12,000 feet and a pilot’s report of electrical trouble.
The aircraft, a Gulfstream G100 air-ambulance jet with tail number C-GRJP, is registered to Canadian operator Latitude Air Ambulance and was flying from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda to Boston Logan International Airport, according to federal officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Search and Rescue Alert at about 1:20 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, Oct. 3, and notified U.S. Coast Guard Northeast at about 2 a.m. that it had lost contact with the plane, the Coast Guard said.
Flight-tracking data from FlightAware shows the jet began a steep descent at about 1:04 a.m., dropping from 23,500 feet to about 11,000 feet in roughly three minutes. The final radar ping was recorded at about 1:23 a.m. Cape Wide News, a Cape Cod news outlet, reported that the pilot reported electrical issues before contact was lost at about 1:45 a.m.
Six people were aboard. Their identities have not been released, and officials have not said whether any were medical personnel or patients — typical of air-ambulance operations.
The Coast Guard has launched a full air-and-surface search south of Nantucket. An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod are flying search patterns, joined on the water by a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Brant Point and the fast-response cutter USCGC William Sparling. The New York Post reported that a C-130 aircraft is also part of the effort. Weather in the search area was reported clear.
The case is developing, and officials said updates would follow as the search continues. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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A Coast Guard helicopter conducts a training rescue at sea. No publicly available photo of the missing jet exists; this is a representative image of the rescue setting. (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)