GPS suddenly went dark. Minutes later, a medical plane crashed into a New Mexico mountain

A routine medical evacuation flight turned into a nightmare after a U.S. military GPS jamming exercise left a civilian aircraft effectively flying blind before it slammed into a New Mexico mountainside, according to a preliminary investigation.

The deadly crash happened just after midnight in May when a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air carrying two pilots and two medical workers took off from Roswell, New Mexico, bound for the mountain town of Ruidoso.

Shortly after departure, the crew reported that their GPS navigation had suddenly failed. The aircraft had unknowingly flown into the effects of an electronic warfare exercise being conducted at the nearby White Sands Missile Range, where military GPS jamming was underway.


The incident is believed to be the first known case in which military GPS interference became part of the chain of events leading to the crash of a civilian aircraft in U.S. airspace.

The flight departed Roswell Air Center at around 11:52 p.m. on a moonless night under instrument flight rules (IFR), meaning the pilots were relying almost entirely on cockpit instruments. Minutes later, Albuquerque air traffic controllers warned the crew that the aircraft had climbed above its assigned altitude.

The pilots acknowledged the warning and informed controllers that they had lost GPS capability. Air traffic control provided radar headings to guide the aircraft toward Sierra Blanca Regional Airport.

About five minutes later, controllers contacted the military and requested that the GPS jamming temporarily stop. At around 12:07 a.m., the aircraft's GPS systems reportedly began working again.

Moments later, the pilots reported they had Ruidoso in sight and switched from instrument flying to visual flight rules (VFR). But hidden between the aircraft and the airport were the towering Capitan Mountains, rising above 10,000 feet.

In the darkness, the mountain range was nearly impossible to distinguish from the night sky.

Flight data shows the aircraft climbing from about 9,400 feet to nearly 9,950 feet before it crashed into terrain just below a mountain-top radio facility.

According to reports, the pilots may have mistaken the lights of Ruidoso for a safe approach path. After descending, they likely realized a mountain stood directly ahead and attempted to climb, but there wasn't enough time or altitude to avoid impact.

The investigation says the loss of GPS dramatically increased the pilots' workload during one of the most demanding phases of flight. Air traffic controllers were also stretched thin, simultaneously helping three other aircraft affected by the military's GPS interference.

Investigators believe that had the GPS jamming not occurred, the crew would likely have completed a standard RNAV approach using satellite navigation instead of switching to a visual approach in near-total darkness.

The crash comes as GPS interference incidents across the United States continue to surge. According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, reported GPS jamming events jumped from just four in 2020 to 50 in 2024, with another 40 incidents recorded in 2025.

While pilots are trained to fly without GPS using traditional navigation systems such as VOR beacons and Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), investigators believe the sudden loss of satellite navigation, combined with poor visibility, changing flight plans and high cockpit workload, created a chain of events that ended in tragedy.

The preliminary report does not conclude that the military's GPS jamming directly caused the crash, but says it was likely the first link in the sequence of events that ultimately proved fatal.