Medical plane with 6 on board missing off Massachusetts coast

US authorities are searching for six individuals after a medical plane bound for Boston, Massachusetts went missing early Saturday morning.

Key points

• FlightAware's tracker demonstrates the aircraft significantly dropped in altitude before its communications went dark, plummeting from around 7, 300m (24, 000ft) to 3, 300m (11, 000ft).
• An air and water search is underway off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, according to the US Coast Guard's Northeast District.
• According to the tail number published by the Coast Guard, the plane belonged to Latitude Air Ambulances, a business that provides international medical flights for patients returning home.
• The plane departed from Bermuda's L.F.

In practice, the Federal Aviation Administration informed 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).

In practice, an air and water search is underway off the coast of Nantucket, a Massachusetts island, according to the US Coast Guard's Northeast District.

For context, 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).

Taken together, the developments around medical plane with 6 on board missing off Massachusetts coast point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.