US Coast Guard suspends Bermuda-Boston plane search as 66-hour operation fails to locate bodies

The United States Coast Guard announced on Sunday evening that they are suspending the search for the passengers on the air ambulance from Bermuda to Boston that went missing over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

US Coast Guard members search for people after it found debris from a medical transport aircraft off the shore of Massachusetts' Nantucket island on October 3. (via REUTERS)Earlier on Saturday, the US Coast Guard had said that they had been able to locate a "debris field" off Nantucket that they believe is from the missing air ambulance. Efforts were underway Sunday to comb the seabed to locate the missing passengers and crew members.

However, at 6:47pm ET on Sunday, the US Coast Guard's northeast district said that they are suspending the search for the six people on the Gulfstream G100 plane.

"The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the people aboard the medical transport aircraft that went missing around 2 a.m. Saturday, as of sunset, after 66 hours of continuous searching by the Coast Guard and partner agencies," an update from the US Coast Guard's northeast district on X read. "We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones."

The plane had four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals. Previously on Sunday, the US Coast Guard said they were launching an operation to search the Atlantic seabed around the area where the debris field has been located.

The decision to go down in the water came following a search by the New York National Guard’s Air Rescue Wing, Massachusetts authorities and the Coast Guard covering an area of 2,840 square miles using aircraft and boats.

“This is a large and demanding search area,” Coast Guard Northeast District Rear Adm. Matt Lake said at a news conference Sunday.

The Canadian-registered Gulfstream G100 was carrying four passengers and two crew members from Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport to Massachusetts. Audio from the cockpit revealed that the flight may have been caught in a storm, with the pilot potentially talking about "coming in blind" against it.

The pilot reported electrical problems and declared an emergency just off the coast. FlightRadar24 data showed that the plane had descended from an altitude of 40,000 feet to around 10,000 feet, where it last made contact with the radar. Before the ATC controller could verify the issues the pilot reported, the plane had gone off the radar.

The US Coast Guard Northeast's chief of response, John McTamney, had said that the search will continue till they ensure that there are no survivors left. “We’ll continue to search and saturate the area until we’re at the point where we are confident that if there were any survivors remaining on the surface of the water, we would have found them,” he had said at the presser earlier on Thursday.

Those deceased in the incident have not been identified.

Shamik is a journalist covering the United States for Hindustan Times. He has more than four years of experience reporting on US politics, sports, and major breaking stories across fast-moving cycles. He previously worked at Times Now and Sportskeeda, building strong newsroom instincts and digital storytelling skills. At HT.com, he focuses on day-to-day coverage of US political developments while also handling high-impact stories that demand speed, accuracy, clarity, and context under pressure. Shamik has extensive experience covering NFL game days over the past two years, coordinating live updates, analysis, and explainers. He is particularly drawn to large news moments such as US elections and the Super Bowl, where he thrives at the news desk working alongside the team. He holds degrees in Media Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia and English Literature from Jadavpur University. Before entering journalism, he briefly worked in digital marketing and political consultancy roles. Currently a Senior Content Producer at HT Digital, he is driven by curiosity, discipline, and a constant desire to explore new and obscure topics. Outside work, he enjoys reading, films, sports, and learning continuously.Read More