Military GPS Jamming Linked to Fatal Air Ambulance Crash

A federal investigation has revealed that a U.S. military GPS jamming exercise preceded the fatal crash of an air ambulance in New Mexico’s Capitan Mountains, killing all four people on board and raising urgent questions about the safety of electronic warfare testing near civilian airspace. The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report documents how the crew of a Beechcraft King Air C90 lost GPS navigation minutes after departing Roswell on May 14, as the Air Force’s 746th Test Squadron conducted its annual NAVFEST electronic warfare exercise at White Sands Missile Range.

The Crash

The twin-engine turboprop, operated by Generation Jets LLC for Trans Aero MedEvac, departed Roswell Air Center at approximately 11:52 p.m. MDT on May 13, bound for Sierra Blanca Regional Airport in Ruidoso to pick up a patient. On board were Captain Keelan Clark, 30, First Officer Ali Kawsara, 23, and flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark. All four died when the aircraft struck the mountainside at approximately 9,950 feet shortly after midnight, according to KVIA.

The crash ignited a wildfire that burned nearly 50 square miles before being fully contained on June 12, according to the Associated Press.

GPS Loss and Controller Response

Approximately eight minutes after takeoff, the crew reported losing GPS capability to Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center. Three other aircraft in the area also reported GPS outages that night. Air traffic controllers twice asked military officials to halt the jamming while assisting the flight; the military complied temporarily, and GPS briefly returned.

After the crew reported the airport in sight and requested a visual approach, controllers gave the military permission to resume jamming. The aircraft descended toward the runway but struck the Capitan Mountains. The NTSB has not yet determined whether the GPS interference caused or contributed to the crash, with a final report expected within 12 to 24 months.

A Growing GPS Danger

The New Mexico crash is believed to be the first known case in which military GPS jamming has been directly linked to a fatal civilian plane crash in American airspace, according to Wired’s in-depth investigation. But it comes amid a sharp rise in GPS interference incidents across the United States and around the world.

The FAA’s 2026 guidance states that hazards associated with GPS jamming and spoofing have “rapidly spread” in recent years, citing industry data showing reports of GPS loss increased 65% in the first half of 2024 compared with the previous year. GPS interference reports in the U.S. have grown from just 4 in 2020 to approximately 50 in 2024 and 40 in 2025, according to AOPA/ASRS data cited by ABC Australia.

Outdated Technology and Slow Certification

Todd Humphreys, director of the University of Texas’ Radionavigation Laboratory, told Fox News that many FAA-certified cockpit GPS receivers rely on older technology more susceptible to jamming than newer commercially available systems.

“The iPhone that the pilot carried was almost certainly a better GPS receiver inside than the FAA-certified receiver providing navigation guidance to the aircraft,” Humphreys said.

Humphreys argued that aviation certification has moved too slowly to keep pace with the evolving threat. “The FAA, I think they’ve just got to move faster,” he said. “They’ve got to wake up and recognize that sticking to their old rules about certification that takes years and millions and millions of dollars to get through is not at the service of safety anymore, because the environment has changed.”

Historical Concerns and Warning Signs

Air traffic controllers had filed reports through NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System raising alarms about White Sands jamming for years. In late 2021, one controller wrote that a request to halt jamming had been refused and that refusing to stop was commonplace. A 2024 filing described the delay in pausing jamming as a danger to the flying public, according to Political.org.

Controllers at Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center filed reports accusing the FAA of denying them permission to ask the military to cut short GPS tests adversely affecting aircraft.

Broader Electronic Warfare Context

The U.S. military has conducted at least 10 GPS jamming exercises in the past year, reflecting the accelerating focus on electronic warfare as drone threats proliferate. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) said GPS interference created by military jamming operations “has been a concern for years, particularly as the dissemination of related notams has been inconsistent,” as reported by Brocker.org.

“While this appears to be the first fatal accident in which GPS interference was a factor, flight crew reports of GPS interference, including jamming, have increased sharply in recent years,” the AOPA said.

GPS interference has become a growing challenge for commercial aviation in parts of Europe and the Middle East, where airlines routinely encounter jamming and spoofing linked to regional conflicts. In March 2025, multiple commercial airliners approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport received false collision alerts, later traced to Secret Service and U.S. Navy counter-drone testing. In February 2026, two separate incidents in West Texas involving U.S. Army and Customs and Border Protection drone operations prompted airspace closures and commercial flight disruptions.

Expert Reactions

Retired airline pilot John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems, told the Associated Press that “the loss of GPS should not result in the loss of an airplane, so there’s got to be more to it than that.” He added, “If you can see the runway, you can see the mountain. Why would you fly into it?”

Paul Deres, vice president of operations at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute, noted that “technology can always fail, and it does,” emphasizing the need for pilot preparation and proficiency.

Eliran Almog, CEO of cybersecurity firm Cyviation, told Wired that “as drone warfare and electronic warfare expand, airlines are increasingly encountering navigation disruptions hundreds of miles beyond the actual conflict zone.”

What’s Next

The NTSB’s final report will be closely watched by the aviation community, military planners, and policymakers. If investigators formally link the jamming to the crash, it could trigger mandatory reforms to how and where military GPS denial exercises are conducted, and potentially force a modernization of aging GPS receiver technology aboard thousands of civilian aircraft nationwide.

Congress has already begun to take notice. Representative Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico has written to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Transport Secretary Sean Duffy raising “serious concerns” about military GPS jamming in his state and urging the development of regulations to prevent future fatal crashes, according to The National News.

Humphreys warned that without faster modernization, the risk will persist. “There is no question that increased levels of GPS jamming and spoofing around the world pose a safety risk for commercial aviation,” he said. “Air travel is still very safe, but it may be stuck for the next five years or more in a mild-and-increasing risk situation as we confront ever more GPS interference within the very-slow-to-adapt aviation industry.”

As drone warfare expands and electronic warfare becomes a permanent feature of modern conflict, the tragedy over the Capitan Mountains serves as a stark reminder that the airspace civilians rely on is increasingly contested—and that the systems designed to protect flights may no longer be enough.