Coast Guard searching off Nantucket for medical evacuation jet carrying 6 people heading from Bermuda to Boston

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a Gulfstream jet carrying six people that lost contact with flight controllers Saturday morning on its way to Boston from the island of Bermuda. The Coast Guard says air and surface crews have launched in search of the aircraft, a Gulfstream G100 jet. The plane was carrying out a medical evacuation in Bermuda, said Clarence Togeretz, the director of flight operations at Latitude Air Ambulance, which operates the plane. “We always get rather concerned when our crew doesn’t report to us in a timely manner,” he told NBC News. “But I will say that again, optimistically and positively, that doesn’t mean that the worst has happened.” Togeretz added that Latitude Air Ambulance has an emergency response plan in place “absolutely for anything that might occur to any of our missions.” The Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Boston Logan International Airport, said the aircraft did not arrive as scheduled. A spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with those on board and their loved ones as the search continues.” Air traffic control tower audio from Boston, obtained by NBC News, appears to indicate that controllers asked the aircraft if it was “coming in blind.” Controllers later ask another plane to “attempt contact” with the jet. It is unclear whether that attempt was successful. The current search area is “off the coast of Nantucket,” the Coast Guard Northeast District said in an update on X. Emergency services audio obtained by NBC News asked vessels to keep a “sharp lookout” for any signs of a “possible aircraft in the water.” Data from Flightradar24 showed a number of aircraft searching south of the island. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it issued a search-and-rescue notice for the jet at 1:20 a.m. ET on Saturday, and is coordinating with the Coast Guard and Rescue Coordination Center to locate the aircraft. Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic, about 650 miles from North Carolina.