Alarm in the U.S.: a plane with 6 people on board loses contact shortly before arriving in Boston

A large air and sea search operation is under way near Nantucket, Massachusetts, for a Gulfstream G100 plane with six people on board, which lost contact during its flight from Bermuda to Boston.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lost contact with the plane in the early hours of Saturday morning, shortly before it was due to arrive at its destination. After the search-and-rescue alarm, the U.S. Coast Guard also joined the operation.

The plane had departed from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda and was flying to Logan International Airport in Boston. According to the authorities, there were six people on board.

According to flight-tracking data cited by the American media, the Gulfstream was at an altitude of about 23,500 feet when, shortly after 1 a.m., it began to descend rapidly. Within about three minutes, the plane descended to about 11,000 feet, while the last contact with it was recorded shortly before its scheduled landing time in Boston.

It is not yet known what caused the loss of contact with the plane, and the authorities have not confirmed a crash.

The search area is concentrated in the waters near Nantucket, an island in south-eastern Massachusetts. The U.S. Coast Guard has mobilised air and sea assets to find the plane. Teams from Air Station Cape Cod, Coast Guard Station Brant Point and other naval assets are involved in the operation.

“Coast Guard air and sea teams have been deployed to search for the plane,” the agency said, announcing that the operation is taking place off the coast of Nantucket.

The Gulfstream G100 was used as an air ambulance and was linked to the Canadian company Latitude Air Ambulance, which provides medical transport for patients who need specialised care.

However, it has not been clarified whether a patient was being transported on this flight, and no further details have been made public about the six people on board.

The Gulfstream G100 is a twin-engine business jet, which is also used for special missions, including medical transport.

The FAA is coordinating the operation with the search-and-rescue authorities and the Coast Guard, while the search continues in the area near Nantucket. So far, the authorities have not announced the discovery of the plane or of the people on board.

The investigation and the search continue to determine what happened in the final minutes of the flight and why communication with the Gulfstream G100 was cut off near its destination.