Medical Plane Crash in New Mexico Linked to GPS Jamming and Pilot Error

A medical plane crash that killed four people in New Mexico last month was preceded by a GPS system malfunction, federal investigators have revealed.

The preliminary report indicates the military was actively jamming signals in the area at the time, a situation pilots had been forewarned about.

The pre-dawn crash on May 14 occurred as the plane attempted to land in the rugged Capitan Mountains near Ruidoso.

The incident sparked a wildfire that burned for weeks, scorching 49.8 square miles (128.9 square kilometers) before being 100% contained on June 12. No structures were damaged.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary findings on Wednesday, detailing the GPS issues the pilots encountered.

However, the NTSB will not determine the definitive cause of the crash until its final report is completed next year.

Aviation experts suggest that pilots should have been able to land safely using ground-based navigation systems or visual flight rules, but GPS is often favored for its precision.

John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems, commented, "The loss of GPS should not result in the loss of an airplane, so there’s got to be more to it than that."

According to the NTSB, after the Trans Aero MedEvac pilots reported problems, air traffic control provided headings to guide them for an instrument landing system approach.

Three other aircraft in the vicinity also reported GPS disruptions around the same time.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had previously issued a Notice to Airmen, warning pilots about military GPS jamming near the Army’s White Sands Missile Range, approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Ruidoso.

At one point, controllers contacted the military, prompting them to temporarily cease jamming. However, shortly before the crash, the pilots informed controllers they had the airport in sight and intended to land visually.

This led controllers to authorize the military to resume jamming.

"If you can see the runway, you can see the mountain. Why would you fly into it?" Cox questioned, highlighting the many unanswered questions that persist despite the details in the preliminary report.

Ruidoso, a mountain town with a population under 8,000, is situated at the base of south-central New Mexico’s Sierra Blanca range, an area characterized by dense forests and rural terrain within the Lincoln National Forest.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, a longtime pilot for United Airlines, emphasized that while the FAA warning meant medevac pilots should have been prepared for GPS signal loss, pilots frequently rely on GPS for its ability to guide them precisely and safely through challenging landscapes with narrow margins for error.

Arroyo explained, "GPS can bring you in precisely with a margin of safety that’s required and bring you down for landing. But if you don’t have GPS, you can’t make that approach within those margins and you may drift outside using conventional navigation."

He noted that by opting for a visual approach, the pilots assumed responsibility for avoiding obstacles.

The NTSB reported that the aircraft descended to 9,400 feet (2,865 meters) during its approach before climbing several hundred feet. It then struck a mountainside at 9,950 feet (3,000 meters), approximately 230 feet (70 meters) below the Capitan Mountains Summit Radio Facility.

Trans Aero MedEvac has operated in the region since 1966.

The victims were identified as pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara, employed by Generation Jets, and flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark, employed by Trans Aero MedEvac. The plane was traveling from Roswell Air Center to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when it crashed.