New Mexico, United States: The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed that a U.S. military GPS jamming exercise was underway when a Beechcraft C90 King Air air ambulance crashed into mountainous terrain near Lincoln, New Mexico, killing all four people on board. The findings were released in a preliminary report, meaning investigators have not yet determined the probable cause or contributing factors of the accident.
The accident occurred at 0015 local time on May 14, 2026, after the aircraft, registered N249CP and operated by Generations Jets under Part 135 as an air ambulance flight, departed Roswell Air Center (ROW) to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (SRR) in Ruidoso to pick up a patient for transport to Albuquerque. The flight was crewed by two pilots and carried two flight nurses employed by Trans Aero Medical Services. The crash claimed the lives of Captain Keelan Clark, First Officer Ali Kawsara, and flight nurses Sarah Clark and Jamie Novick.
According to the NTSB, GPS jamming activities conducted by the U.S. military were active over the accident area during the flight. Shortly after departure, the aircraft was cleared to 12,000 feet under instrument flight rules (IFR). At 0000:26, air traffic controllers advised the crew that the aircraft had climbed to 13,000 feet, 1,000 feet above its assigned altitude. The pilot responded that the aircraft had lost GPS capability and requested headings from air traffic control.
The crew initially requested the RNAV (GPS) Runway 24 approach into Sierra Blanca Regional Airport but, after losing GPS navigation, switched to the ILS Runway 24 approach. At 0001:17, the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) controller contacted the operations supervisor and requested that the military stop the GPS jamming. The aircraft continued north while controllers provided radar headings. During the same period, three other aircraft also reported GPS outages, with one crew requiring additional assistance to identify a ground-based navigation aid.
At about 0005, the ARTCC operations supervisor again contacted the military to stop the jamming, after which ADS-B transmissions returned to normal. At 0008, the accident crew reported having Ruidoso in sight and requested to continue visually. Controllers cleared the aircraft for a visual approach and advised the crew they could cancel IFR after descending below 9,000 feet or after landing. The pilots acknowledged the clearance and stated they would cancel IFR “in just a couple of minutes.” No further radio transmissions were received.
The aircraft then turned southwest toward Sierra Blanca Regional Airport. Between the airport and the aircraft lay the Capitan Mountains, which rise to 10,201 feet. Around 0010, after being informed the aircraft was on a visual approach, the military resumed the GPS jamming exercise. The King Air began descending before briefly climbing again. The final Spidertracks data point recorded the aircraft at 9,823 feet, 150 knots ground speed, and a heading of 250 degrees. Seconds later, it struck terrain at an elevation of about 9,950 feet, approximately 730 feet east and 230 feet below the Capitan Mountains Summit Radio Facility, triggering a post-impact fire that ignited a forest fire.
Investigators also found that the crew’s ForeFlight weather briefing included active NOTAMs warning that military GPS jamming would affect GPS, WAAS, GBAS and ADS-B navigation over a wide area encompassing the accident flight path and altitudes. Additional NOTAMs advised that Sierra Blanca Regional Airport’s automated weather observation system (AWOS) was out of service, while the weather briefing indicated no METAR or TAF was available for the destination airport. The airport’s published RNAV and ILS Runway 24 approach procedures also state that the procedures are not authorized when the local altimeter setting is unavailable.
The NTSB emphasized that the report is preliminary and subject to change, and that it does not determine the accident’s probable cause.
