Medical plane with 6 on board missing off Massachusetts coast

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The search for the plane is being conducted near Nantucket, an island off the coast of the US state of MassachusettsBySakshi VenkatramanPublished17 minutes agoUS authorities are searching for six people after a medical plane bound for Boston, Massachusetts went missing early Saturday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration told the BBC that it lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 plane and put out a search and rescue notice just after 1:00 local time (6:00 GMT). An air and water search is underway off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, according to the US Coast Guard's Northeast District.The plane departed from Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport at 23:40 local time, according to flight data from FlightAware, and was slated to land at Boston's Logan International at 1:30 EDT (6:30 GMT).According to the tail number released by the Coast Guard, the plane belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a company that provides international medical flights for patients returning home. FlightAware's tracker shows the aircraft significantly dropped in altitude before its communications went dark, plummeting from around 7,300m (24,000ft) to 3,300m (11,000ft).Related topicsAviation safetyUnited StatesAir travelAviation accidents and incidents