A high-powered GPS signal jammer belonging to the 746th Test Squadron is on display at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Dec. 3, 2024. (Isaiah Pedrazzini/U.S. Air Force)
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a fatal plane crash that occurred during a U.S. military GPS jamming exercise in the spring in New Mexico
The NTSB released a statement on social media Wednesday confirming that it was actively investigating the crash that killed four people on May 14, and that they have “not yet determined the probable cause or any contributing factors to the accident.”
A Beechcraft King Air C90 medevac plane took off from Roswell at 11:52 p.m. local time and was headed to Ruidoso to pick up a patient. Twenty-three minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed into the Capitan Mountains, killing the two pilots and two nurses on board
A figure published by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the flight path of a Beechcraft King Air C90 medevac plane that crashed into the Capitan Mountains on May 14, 2026. (National Transportation Safety Board)
<a href="https://healthylife7.com/the-1-cooking-oil-for-heart-health-according-to-nutrition-experts/” title=”The #1 Cooking Oil for Heart Health, According to Nutrition Experts”>According to the NTSB’s preliminary investigative findings, around midnight, the medevac plane’s pilots told an air traffic controller that the plane had lost GPS signal
Before the crash, an operations supervisor contacted the military, which was conducting a GPS jamming exercise at White Sands Missile Range, and requested that they stop jamming. As the plane approached Ruidoso, the supervisor called back and informed the military that they could resume. Five minutes later, the plane crashed into the side of a mountain range
Three other planes also reported a loss of GPS signal to air traffic control that night, according to the NTSB
In a press release published Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vazquez, D-N.M., said that he had sent a letter to the NTSB and the Defense Department requesting a joint briefing about the incident
“I have been briefed by the NTSB chair and regional officials on the incident in Ruidoso, and military technology definitely had a role to play in the flight path of this tragic crash,” Vasquez wrote
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