NTSB Report: Military GPS jamming was active at time of medical plane crash in New Mexico
RUIDOSO, N.M. —
A medical transport aircraft that crashed in the mountains northeast of Ruidoso, killing all four people aboard, experienced a loss of GPS navigation capability shortly before the accident, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The aircraft, operated as an air ambulance flight, crashed shortly after midnight on May 14, 2026, while transporting two flight nurses to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport in Ruidoso to pick up a patient. Both pilots and both medical crew members were killed.
Here’s what we know about the incident previously covered in June:
What happened?
An aircraft en route to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso crashed into the Capitan Mountains and started a wildfire following the crash.
The airplane left Roswell Air Center at 11:52 p.m. on May 13, 2026. The plane crashed at 12:15 a.m. on May 14, 2026, near Lincoln, New Mexico, while on approach to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport.
Timeline of the flight
Did the military cause the crash by jamming GPS signals?
No official cause to the crash has been given.
An NTSB report, released in June, states that military GPS-jamming operations were active across a large portion of New Mexico at the time of the flight.
Air traffic controllers subsequently contacted military personnel and requested that the jamming be halted after multiple aircraft in the region reported GPS-related issues.
As controllers worked to vector the aircraft toward Ruidoso, the crew initially requested an RNAV (GPS) approach before switching to an instrument landing system (ILS) approach because of the navigation outage.
Shortly after the medical plane reported they had a visual of Sierra Blanca Regional Airport, the NTSB report says air traffic control supervisors contacted the military to resume GPS jamming operations.
Who was the flight crew on the medical aircraft?
There were four crew members on the plane at the time of the crash.
- Keelan Clark, Generation Jets pilot
- Ali Kawsara, Generation Jets pilot
- Sarah Clark, Trans Aero MedEvac Flight Nurse
- Jamie Novick, Trans Aero MedEvac Flight Nurse
What’s the status of the investigation?
The NTSB is still investigating the crash.
A final report with the official cause of the crash has not been released.
