New Mexico Medevac Crash Kills 4 After GPS Loss During Military Jamming Exercise
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 7
New Mexico Medevac Crash Kills 4 After GPS Loss During Military Jamming Exercise
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 7
Summary
Four people died after a Beech King Air air ambulance struck the Capitan Mountains on May 14, after the crew reported losing GPS minutes after departing Roswell for Ruidoso.
NTSB investigators said the outage occurred during a scheduled U.S. military GPS-denial exercise near White Sands; controllers twice asked for the jamming to stop, and three other aircraft also reported GPS loss.
The crew later reported the airport in sight and requested a visual approach, but the military resumed the exercise before the aircraft descended into terrain; investigators have not determined whether interference caused or contributed to the crash.
A 2026 ICAO warning said GPS jamming and spoofing hazards have spread rapidly, with industry reports of GPS loss up 65% in the first half of 2024 from a year earlier.
The crash is intensifying scrutiny of U.S. aviation readiness, with experts arguing many FAA-certified cockpit GPS receivers lag newer, more resilient technology as jamming becomes a broader operational risk.