On May 14, 2026, at approximately 00:15 Mountain Daylight Time, a Beechcraft King Air C90 (N249CP) operating as an air ambulance crashed into the Capitan Mountains near Lincoln, New Mexico (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). The crash resulted in fatal injuries to the two pilots and two flight nurses on board, and ignited the Seven Cabins Fire, which subsequently burned over 30,000 acres (KOB 4, 2026). The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary report confirmed that United States military GPS jamming activities were being conducted in the area during the flight (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026).
Flight Details and GPS Interference
The flight, operated by Generation Jets under Part 135, departed Roswell Air Center (ROW) at 23:52 on May 13, en route to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (SRR) in Ruidoso to pick up a patient (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). The flight crew had been provided with a preflight briefing that included a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) warning of scheduled military GPS jamming — including WAAS, GBAS, and ADS-B — centered at the White Sands Missile Range, encompassing the area and altitudes of the flight (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026).
At 00:00, the crew reported a loss of GPS capability and requested a heading from Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). The crew subsequently requested the ILS approach to SRR due to the GPS loss. The NTSB report noted that during this time, three other aircraft in the sector also reported losing GPS capabilities, with one requiring additional assistance to identify a ground-based navigation aid (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026; KOB 4, 2026).
At 00:01, the ARTCC controller requested that the military cease jamming operations (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). ADS-B data, which had degraded to one-minute recording intervals during the jamming, returned to normal 2–3 second intervals at 00:07 (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026).
Final Approach and Impact
At 00:08, while approximately 31 miles northeast of SRR, the crew reported having the airport in sight and requested a visual approach (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). ARTCC cleared the flight for a visual approach. At 00:10, the ARTCC operations supervisor informed the military that the aircraft was on a visual approach and that jamming could resume (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026).
Following the resumption of jamming, ADS-B data collection again degraded to one-minute intervals (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). The aircraft descended and struck terrain at an elevation of approximately 9,950 feet, approximately 730 feet east and 230 feet below the Capitan Mountains Summit Radio Facility (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). The highest peak in the Capitan Mountains reaches 10,201 feet and was located between the aircraft’s position and the destination airport (Moore, 2026).
The preflight briefing also indicated that the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at SRR was out of service, resulting in no METAR or TAF data available for the destination (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026). The published instrument approaches for SRR Runway 24 state that the procedures are not authorized when the local altimeter setting is not received (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026).
Crew and Operator
The four fatalities were identified as Keelan Clark (Generation Jets pilot), Ali Kawsara (Generation Jets pilot), Sarah Clark (Trans Aero MedEvac flight nurse), and Jamie Novick (Trans Aero MedEvac flight nurse) (KOAT Action 7 News, 2026). The aircraft was operated by Generation Jets; the two flight nurses were employed by Trans Aero Medical Services (National Transportation Safety Board, 2026).
Investigation Status
The NTSB has not determined a probable cause. The preliminary report does not assign blame or reach a conclusion (KOB 4, 2026). A final report including probable cause is expected within 12 to 24 months (KOB 4, 2026). The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) database shows GPS interference reports increased from approximately 5 per year in 2019 to 50 in 2024 and 40 in 2025, many of which included GPS navigation malfunctions (Moore, 2026).
References
Moore, J. (2026, June 18). GPS jamming active when King Air struck mountain. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2026/june/18/gps-jamming-active-when-king-air-struck-mountain
National Transportation Safety Board. (2026). Aviation investigation preliminary report: WPR26FA186. U.S. Government. https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/202990/pdf
KOB 4. (2026, June 17). NTSB: GPS jamming was active when air ambulance crew flew into Capitan Mountains. Hubbard Broadcasting. https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/ntsb-gps-jamming-was-active-when-air-ambulance-crew-flew-into-capitan-mountains/
KOAT Action 7 News. (2026, May 18). Former NTSB investigator weighs in on medical aircraft crash in New Mexico. Hearst Television. https://www.koat.com/article/medical-aircraft-crash-new-mexico/71311881
Ryan, M. (2026, June 19). NTSB: GPS jamming active before C90 accident. AVweb. https://avweb.com/flight-safety/accidents-ntsb/ntsb-gps-jamming-active-c90-accident/
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