(Update) Search ongoing for six people after debris found from missing Ontario air ambulance

The U.S. Coast Guard
says the search is ongoing for four Canadians and two Bermuda nationals who were on board an Ontario air ambulance that went missing on Saturday.

The update on the search efforts comes after the coast guard said late Saturday evening it found a debris field confirmed to be from the plane.

At a press conference in Boston on Sunday, coast guard officials said the debris field was about 32 kilometres off the island of Nantucket, in waters approximately 24 to 27 metres deep.

Rear Admiral Matt Lake says crews from the coast guard, the New York National Guard and Massachusetts authorities have searched about 7,350 square kilometres, over a "large and demanding search area," for the six missing people.

The medical evacuation jet, belonging to Hamilton-based Latitude Air Ambulance, was carrying a patient, their family member and four Canadian crew members from Bermuda to Boston when it went dark.

Lake says the coast guard search began around 2 a.m. on Saturday morning after they were notified the Federal Aviation Administration had lost contact with the plane.

"My thoughts and those of every coast guard crew member are with the people on that aircraft, their families, their friends and their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time," he said. 

Lake said the search efforts are being aided by fixed-wing aircraft, boats and a helicopter, and that next of kin for the six missing people are being updated as the search continues.

Lt.-Cmdr. Kastriot Kastrati said he couldn't provide details about the debris that was recovered, and Lake noted the coast guard is working with Massachusetts authorities to get sonar-equipped craft to search the sea floor around the debris field.

Lake said a black box, a recording device found in airplanes used to investigate accidents, has yet to be recovered.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2026.