Search underway for missing medical plane off Massachusetts coast

United States authorities are searching for six people after a medical plane went missing early on Saturday morning off the coast of Massachusetts. The BBC reported that the Federal Aviation Administration lost contact with the Gulfstream G-100 aircraft and issued a search and rescue notice just after 01:00 local time, which was 06:00 GMT. An air and water search is currently taking place near Nantucket, an island off the state coast. [1]

The missing aircraft was travelling to Boston, Massachusetts, after departing from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda at 23:40 local time. According to flight data, the plane dropped significantly in altitude before flight controllers lost communication with it. The US Coast Guard's Northeast District is leading the search operations in the waters off Nantucket. [1]

According to Grokipedia, Massachusetts takes its name from an Eastern Algonquian language spoken by indigenous peoples, translating to near the great hill. English captain John Smith recorded the name during a coastal survey in 1614. The descriptor originally referenced Great Blue Hill, located south of Boston Harbor. [4]

Wikipedia lists historical disasters in Massachusetts causing ten or more deaths. Wikipedia also records other regional aviation history, such as a 1946 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash in Newfoundland that killed 27 people and marked the first large scale rescue using helicopters. [2][3]