In May, a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air medevac plane departed Roswell, New Mexico, bound for Ruidoso to retrieve a patient. The flight, which typically takes thirty minutes under clear skies, encountered difficulties after takeoff. At the time, US military personnel at the White Sands Missile Range were conducting a GPS jamming exercise as part of the annual NAVFEST event hosted by the 746th Test Squadron of the 704th Test Group. This exercise disrupted GPS signals over hundreds of miles, affecting civilian aircraft in the region. The Federal Aviation Administration had previously warned that GPS could be impacted up to 400 miles away between May 12 and May 18 due to the drills. Upon losing GPS navigation, the pilots requested instrument-only flight clearance from Albuquerque Air Traffic Control Center, which was granted. With modern GPS-dependent systems unavailable, the crew attempted to rely on older navigation methods. They initially requested an RNAV approach but switched to an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach when GPS remained unavailable. After receiving vectors from air traffic control, the pilots continued flying north. By 12:08 am, they had overshot the Ruidoso landing pattern by ten miles. At that point, the pilots could have waited for further vectors, attempted to resume RNAV if GPS returned, or pursued a visual approach. They opted for a visual approach after sighting airport lights to the southwest, and air traffic control approved the request. The plane subsequently crashed into a mountainside, resulting in no survivors. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report detailing the timeline, including the crew’s late-night departure and the pilots’ relative inexperience—captain Keelan Clark, 30, had held his commercial license for just over a year, and first officer Ali Kawsara, 23, had only two months on the job. Both were trained in instrument flight rules but had limited experience with backup navigation systems. The incident marks the first known fatal civilian aircraft crash in the United States linked to GPS jamming from military electronic warfare exercises. Experts note that as electronic and drone warfare expand, such navigation disruptions may affect civilian aviation hundreds of miles from active conflict zones.
Key facts
- GPS jamming during a US military exercise at White Sands Missile Range disrupted navigation for civilian aircraft hundreds of miles away
- The medevac flight departed Roswell, New Mexico, at 11:52 pm bound for Ruidoso to pick up a patient
- Pilots lost GPS shortly after takeoff and requested instrument-only flight clearance from Albuquerque Center
- The aircraft overshot the Ruidoso landing pattern by 10 miles before requesting and receiving approval for a visual approach
- The crash resulted in no survivors; the pilots were captain Keelan Clark (30) and first officer Ali Kawsara (23)
- The Federal Aviation Administration had warned GPS could be affected up to 400 miles away between May 12 and May 18
- This is the first known fatal US civilian aircraft crash linked to military GPS jamming
- The accident occurred during the annual NAVFEST electronic warfare exercise involving multiple armed services