Civilian plane crash in New Mexico tied to military GPS blocking
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
A civilian medevac plane crashed in New Mexico after the military's GPS jamming exercise disabled navigation.
On May 13, 2026, a King Air medevac plane crashed into the Capitan Mountains near Ruidoso, New Mexico, killing all four aboard. The pilots lost GPS due to a military jamming exercise at White Sands Missile Range (NAVFEST). Forced to fly visually on a moonless night, they flew into a 10,000-foot mountain. The NTSB report shows the pilots requested a visual approach after overshooting the runway. The incident is the first U.S. civilian crash linked to GPS jamming. A second crash of a Pakistani 737 freighter near the Strait of Hormuz on July 7 is also under investigation for possible GPS interference.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split on responsibility. Some blamed pilot error: the crew chose a visual approach on a dark night without adequate references, ignoring safer alternatives like the ILS approach. Others faulted the military for conducting a planned GPS jamming exercise without ensuring civilian safety, noting that the NOTAM warned of disruptions up to 400 miles away. A key detail from the NTSB report: the local altimeter was unavailable, making the ILS approach not authorized. Several commenters noted that a GPS-enabled terrain warning system would have alerted the pilots to the mountain, but the jamming disabled it.