Possibility Of Migrant Plane Landing On Nantucket Likely A False Alarm

The possibility of a planeload of migrants arriving on Nantucket tomorrow - a story which made national headlines over the weekend - appears to be a false alarm.

On Saturday, the Nantucket Police Department issued a press release stating that it had been alerted to a flight scheduled to arrive on Nantucket on Tuesday, Oct. 11, that “had many similarities to the flight and incident that occurred on Martha’s Vineyard.”

In the very next sentence, the press release states that airport officials had reached out to the charter company that had scheduled the flight, which informed them it was actually a business trip for a group out of Chicago.

Regardless, the press release set off a wave of reporting from local, regional and national news outlets sounding the alarm about a potential plane full of migrants being sent to Nantucket.

But in the hours after release went public, numerous associates of a business person who had, in fact, planned a charter flight from Chicago to Nantucket on Tuesday reached out to the Current. The private plane coming from the Windy City will be carrying a group from an investment company to Nantucket for a meeting and a little R&R - not migrants - they said.

These associates - who asked to remain anonymous - are based both on Nantucket and off-island, and they told the Current the business person who chartered the plane was dumbfounded that a press release had been issued drawing attention to the flight.

The N-number of the incoming flight carrying the group from the investment company - which an FAA official confirmed was the same N-number that set off the entire episode resulting in the press release being issued - belongs to a Dornier jet that will be arriving on Tuesday.

Even after issuing the press release on Saturday, Nantucket Police Department Lt. Angus MacVicar told the Current “this isn’t that big of a deal.”

Ever since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chartered a plane filled with 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last month, Nantucket officials have formulated a plan that would be implemented in the event a similar incident occurred on the island.

“In the event there is an arrival of a plane carrying migrants, the Nantucket Police Department and many other Town departments have a detailed plan to manage such a situation,” the press release issued on Saturday stated.

Nantucket Police Chief Bill Pittman said that plan would entail housing, feeding, and providing services for the migrants for a short period of time before they would be transferred to Joint Base Cape Cod, similar to what happened with the migrants that landed on Martha’s Vineyard.

What will happen on Tuesday? While it appears to be a false alarm, Nantucket officials are preparing nonetheless. Nantucket Current will be there to cover either scenario, and bring you the latest.