Bermuda Names the Mother and Son Lost on the Missing Medical Jet

The short version: The two Bermudian passengers on the missing medical jet have been identified as Marilyn Lavonne Bean, 66, and her son, Sergio Wayne Lottimore, 41. Bean, who had suffered a stroke the week before, was the patient being flown to Boston for treatment; Lottimore, a senior reinsurance executive, was traveling as her family escort. The Bermuda Police Service identified both, and appointed a family liaison officer to assist their family.

For five days the story was a search. Now it is a loss with names, and an island is grieving two of its own.

Who they were

Marilyn Lavonne Bean, 66, was a Bermudian national whose family described her to WCVB as "the matriarch of the family in Bermuda," loved by the wider island community. She had suffered a stroke the week prior, and the early-morning flight on Saturday, Oct. 3, was meant to carry her to Boston for treatment. A family friend told WCVB and People the family is "devastated" but appreciative of the support coming from Bermuda and Massachusetts.

Sergio Wayne Lottimore, 41, was Bean's son and her family escort on the flight. He was a senior vice president and head of specialty reinsurance at Hamilton Re in Bermuda, where he had joined in 2024 as vice president for credit, bond and political risk reinsurance. Before that he spent three years at Validus Re as a credit-lines underwriter and 15 years at MS Amlin, rising through the ranks. He was a 2002 graduate of Warwick Academy in Bermuda, where he had been a prefect; the school remembered him as an "outstanding person." "The entire Hamilton team is heartbroken by the loss of a respected leader, colleague and friend," the company said.

The flight: Heartbeat 104

The aircraft was a Gulfstream G100 twinjet, Canadian-registered with tail number C-GRJP, operated by Latitude Air Ambulance of Ontario under the callsign "Heartbeat 104." It departed L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda around 12:41 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, bound for Boston Logan on a roughly two-hour night flight. Six people were aboard: the two Bermudians and a four-person Canadian crew — captain Philip Gregory Childerhose, first officer Thomas Henry Farquhar, flight nurse Sarah Jane Paton, and respiratory therapist Jolene Beth Weir. The crew's names were released by the Coast Guard and Latitude on Oct. 5.

Air traffic audio captured the crew reporting electrical problems and declaring an emergency. The plane was reportedly "coming in blind" with a storm ahead. Flight-tracking data showed a rapid descent from roughly 24,000 feet to 10,000 feet — a plunge of about 13,000 feet in roughly two minutes — before radar contact ended. The FAA issued a search-and-rescue alert around 1:20 a.m. and notified the Coast Guard around 2 a.m. The aircraft never made its scheduled ~1:25 a.m. Boston landing.

From search to investigation

The search lasted about 66 hours and covered roughly 4,400 square miles, with Coast Guard cutters, HC-144 Ocean Sentries, HC-130s, Jayhawk helicopters, a motor lifeboat, the cutter William Sparling, New York Air National Guard rescue assets, and Massachusetts authorities all taking part. On Saturday evening, a debris field confirmed to be from the aircraft was found about 13 nautical miles south of Nantucket in 80 to 90 feet of water. On Sunday evening, Oct. 4, the Coast Guard suspended the search. No survivors were found.

"Suspending a search is not an easy decision," said Rear Adm. Matthew Lake, the Coast Guard's Northeast District commander. "We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by the tragedy and our gratitude for our partner agencies who helped support search efforts."

Latitude Air Ambulance said all six are presumed to have died. "Given the information shared by authorities and the conclusion of the search-and-rescue phase, we must now face the heartbreaking reality that the four members of our Latitude team, our patient and the patient's family escort, who were aboard Heartbeat 104, are presumed to have died," the company said Oct. 4. Latitude president Peter Byl said of the crew: "Our colleagues dedicated themselves to helping people at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives."

Bermuda responds

Bermuda's leaders spoke for an island that knows the family. Premier David Burt said Oct. 5: "While we held out hope for the best, the worst fears have been realized, and so our first thoughts are with the families of those so tragically lost. Let us open our hearts to the families in the hope that our expressions of love, support and compassion will bring some comfort as they attempt to deal with this terrible loss." Opposition Leader Ben Smith offered condolences and said the unexpected event had left the island "shattered."

What comes next is the investigation. Canada's Transportation Safety Board leads it as the state of registry, with the U.S. NTSB participating; sonar-equipped vessels were expected to be brought in to locate wreckage and the flight recorders. The cause is officially undetermined — the crew's reported electrical problems and a storm in the flight path are known facts, not conclusions, and authorities have been explicit that nothing should be read past that yet.

Previously's Massachusetts news desk is following the investigation into Heartbeat 104. Read more local and national news, including our coverage of the search for the missing jet.