Searchers found debris of a medical transport jet that vanished south of Nantucket early Saturday morning while flying from Bermuda to Boston, authorities said.
The six passengers and crew on board were still unaccounted for, a US Coast Guard spokesperson said Saturday night.
Coast Guard boats, planes, and helicopters launched the search off Nantucket after the transport flight disappeared early Saturday. Air traffic controllers in New York had struggled to communicate with the jet as it plunged toward the Atlantic Ocean.
“You’re coming in blind? Is that what you said?” a controller asked the pilot at about 12:46 a.m. “Are you declaring an emergency, or no?”
The pilot’s response, according to a recording captured by LiveATC.net, was not audible.
The airplane, a Gulfstream G100 that took off from Bermuda late Friday, was carrying a patient and family member as well as a four-person crew.
As the jet approached Nantucket, its pilot reported electrical failures, according to radio transmissions. Data from the website FlightAware show the plane descended thousands of feet within three minutes.
Shortly afterward, around 1 a.m., it disappeared from radar entirely.
The crew members are Canadian citizens and the passengers are Bermudian nationals, according to Clarence Togeretz, operations manager for Latitude Air Ambulance, the company in Ontario that operates the Gulfstream G100.
Steven MacKinnon, the leader of Canada’s public transportation agency, declined to identify the people on board the flight. The Bermuda Gazette reported that the two passengers aboard were a patient and their son.
In a statement, the Bermudian government said it was in touch with the families of the passengers and US search crews.
“We are praying that all six people will be found safe,” said Bermuda Premier David Burt.
The plane left L. F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda for the 800-mile flight to Boston at 11:41 p.m. on Friday, said Ciara Eve, an airport spokesperson. Bermuda, a self-governing British territory, is one hour ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.
As the jet descended toward the Atlantic, air traffic controllers asked to confirm whether they were declaring an emergency.
“You’re coming in a little weak so I didn’t hear what your response was, if you were declaring an emergency or not,” the air traffic controller said. He later confirmed the pilot declared an emergency, but struggled to reestablish contact with the aircraft.
The controller asked the pilot of a second plane whether the Gulfstream G100 aircraft was visible on its anti-collision system. But the second plane was flying at a much higher altitude and couldn’t pick up signs of jet, the pilot said.
For much of the flight, the Gulfstream jet traveled at about 24,000 feet, but at about 1:04 a.m., FlightAware data show the plane descended 13,000 feet within three minutes.
With the plane about 80 miles south of Nantucket at 1:06 a.m., a dispatcher at Logan International Airport directed crews to stage on the runway for the plane. She said it was due to land in 15 minutes and had lost “radio and radar,” according to radio transmissions captured by Broadcastify.
Emergency crews got into position and waited.
At 1:20 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert, an agency spokesperson said. The plane wouldn’t land at Logan, and a search and rescue mission had been launched.
On the runway at Logan, the Massport Fire Rescue commander heard a radio transmission reporting that air traffic control said it could no longer see the plane on the radar.
“I don’t know if you monitored the tower radio, but the tower lost radar contact with this aircraft,” the commander radioed at about 1:36 a.m.
“Received, I do have it. I was listening,” the dispatcher said.
Emergency crews on the runway were ordered back to their headquarters. At 2 a.m., the FAA alerted the US Coast Guard of the missing plane.
On Nantucket, police checked the island’s airport for the missing jet but found nothing, said Lieutenant Angus MacVicar.
At sunrise, officers and the harbormaster began combing Nantucket’s southern shoreline aboard ATVs in search of signs of the plane, he said.
Governor Maura Healey said Saturday her “thoughts and prayers go out to all on board and all involved.”
“We’ll do whatever we can as a state to support efforts there and work with the Coast Guard,” Healey said at a labor rally in Dorchester.
Chris Van Buskirk and John R. Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her @lauracrimaldi. Rita Chandler can be reached at rita.chandler@globe.com. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.