The U.S. Coast Guard says crews have found a debris field confirmed to be from the missing medical transport aircraft that was carrying six people from Bermuda to Boston when it lost contact with the Federal Aviation Administration early Saturday, prompting a massive search off Nantucket, Massachuse tts. The search for those onboard — four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals — is continuing, according to the Coast Guard. Next of kin have been notified. A fast response cutter, the CGC William Sparling, will search throughout the night, the Coast Guard added, noting that 1,644 square miles had been searched over approximately 27 hours. Crews were searching in the air and on the water all day Saturday. The Coast Guard is expected to hold a press conference at 11 a.m. Sunday in Boston to provide an update on the search. A search and rescue alert notice was first issued for the Gulfstream G-100 aircraft around 1:20 a.m. local time on Saturday, the FAA said. The flight departed from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda and was headed to Boston Logan International Airport. Massport confirmed in a statement to NBC10 Boston that the aircraft did not arrive at Boston Logan as scheduled, saying: “Our thoughts are with those on board and their loved ones as the search continues.” The aircraft, with Canadian aircraft registration C-GJRP, is owned by Latitude Air Ambulance of Hamilton, Ontario, FlightRadar24 shows. The director of flight operations at Latitude Air Ambulance told NBC News that the plane was carrying out a medical evacuation in Bermuda, and that Latitude Air Ambulance had an emergency response plan in place “for anything that might occur” on a mission. Air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net offered a fragmentary and troubling glimpse of the flight’s final communications. “Roger, you said you’re coming in blind. Is that what you said?” a controller can be heard asking the pilot. The pilot’s transmission could not be heard in the recording. The controller later confirmed the pilot was declaring an emergency just before losing contact with the plane. The controller then asked other aircraft in the area if they showed the Gulfstream jet on their collision avoidance systems or whether they could reach them on the radio, but the medevac plane with the call sign “Heartbeat 104” was never heard from again. Mary Schiavo, who is a former Inspector General of the Transportation Department, thinks the plane may have lost its navigational instruments just as a storm moved across its path on radar. The plane also descended sharply from its cruising altitude of around 24,000 feet to around 10,000 feet, according to preliminary data from flight tracking site FlightRadar24. “Something bad happened with this big drop, and they flew into this big storm. It’s a terrible place to have a loss of your instruments and be flying blind,” said Schiavo, who is an aviation attorney. “It’s very easy to get disoriented and not know if you’re turning, climbing, descending, etc. Spatial orientation hits pretty quickly.” Aviation attorney Paul Miller spoke with NBC10 Boston about the situation, saying, “Obviously something went incredibly wrong, in the fact that they lost communications, lost radar and no one has been able to find them since. So clearly it was a mayday situation for the pilot and the crew.” “It’s definitely concerning about what’s happening,” he added. “We expect that when we get on a plane, especially an air ambulance, it’s going to be safe. This may have nothing to do with air control or staffing.” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey responded to the news as it was developing on Saturday, saying, “My thoughts and prayers go to all involved. We’ll do whatever we can as a state to support efforts there.” The Government of Bermuda said that it had been in contact with the families of those on board and remains in contact with the authorities coordinating the search. “My thoughts are with everyone on board and their families during this deeply worrying time,” Premier David Burt said before it was announced debris from the plane had been found. “We are praying that all six people will be found safe, and we thank the search and rescue crews for their continuing efforts.” Transport Canada was closely monitoring and working with authorities on search and rescue efforts, the country’s Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said on X. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the situation Saturday morning but had no further update to share. The search for those who were aboard the plane remains ongoing. Additional information will be released as it becomes available. The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report This story originally appeared on NBCBoston.com. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less