6 presumed dead after medical jet crashes off Nantucket

The operator of an air evacuation jet that dropped off the map in waters off New England said Sunday that it’s facing “the heartbreaking reality” that all on board have died.

Canada-based Latitude Air Ambulance said in a statement that the flight, which appeared to have crashed off Nantucket, Massachusetts, carried a patient, a family escort for the patient and four Latitude crew members.

The six people on board were four Canadians and two Bermudians. A source familiar with the matter told NBC News the Bermudians were a patient and the patient’s son.

The Bermudian government said Saturday that it was in contact with the families of those on board. The Coast Guard said it had notified next of kin.

“We must now face the heartbreaking reality that the four members of our Latitude team, our patient and the patient’s family escort, who were aboard Heartbeat 104, are presumed to have died,” Latitude Air Ambulance said in a statement Sunday night.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Gulfstream G100 jet early Saturday as it flew from Bermuda to Boston. One controller asked the crew whether it was declaring an emergency and “coming in blind,” according to audio obtained by NBC News.

The search for the six people on the jet was suspended at sunset Sunday, after 66 hours of combing the seas with the help of partner agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.

“Suspending a search is not an easy decision,” said Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, commander of the Coast Guard’s Northeast District. “We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by the tragedy.”

Latitude Air Ambulance said the Coast Guard’s decision to “conclude active search and rescue operations and transition to recovery efforts” was received with “profound sadness.”

“They dedicated themselves to providing care to people at some of the most difficult moments in their lives, and they were carrying out that mission when this tragedy occurred,” the company, which arranges private flights for sick or injured patients, said of its employees. “We are grieving their loss deeply.”

The jet went missing about 2 a.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard said, adding that searchers scoured 4,445 miles. The Coast Guard, Massachusetts authorities and the New York National Guard’s air rescue wing were involved in the search, Lake said at a news conference earlier Sunday.

“This is a large and demanding search area. Our crews are employing fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters to search the area,” Lake said. He added that authorities hope to use sonar to search the seabed.

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Authorities declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, and Lake declined to provide the passengers’ names or ages “out of respect to the families and next of kin.”

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The flight was scheduled to last less than two hours, according to data from FlightAware, a site that tracks flights in real time. The jet took off from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda at about 12:40 a.m. and was due to land at Boston Logan International Airport just before 1:30 a.m. Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic, about 775 miles from Boston.

At around 1:05 a.m., FlightAware shows the jet dropping from 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Coast Guard found a debris field approximately 20 miles off the coast of Massachusetts’ Nantucket island.

Lake said Sunday that investigators would likely try to locate the plane’s flight recorder system, or “black box,” which is designed to preserve evidence after a crash.

“There’s no indications that we found a black box. But again, it’s very difficult because that debris is extensive,” Lake said.

The Coast Guard said an investigation into the cause of the crash is forthcoming.

Latitude Air Ambulance thanked search-and-rescue crews from the U.S., Canada and Bermuda, as well as federal air traffic controllers, for their professionalism.

The company said it planned to offer support to the families of the crew members as it cooperates with a probable U.S. Transportation Safety Board investigation, as well as a possible Transportation Safety Board of Canada probe.

According to the company’s website, a typical flight is staffed by two pilots and two medical crew members and carries a patient and an escort. The jet that crashed Saturday was equipped to carry full ICU medical equipment and supplies.

Jesse Kirsch and Jay Blackman contributed.