Airplane crash that killed four blamed on Pentagon test of GPS jamming
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded that a New Mexico crash that killed four of a medical ambulance airplane on an emergency flight to pick up a sick patient occurred because of a Pentagon test of its GPS jamming capability.
On May 14, an airplane ambulance based out of Roswell, New Mexico, was called to the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport in Ruidoso to pick up a patient. Before they arrived in Ruidoso, the plane went down shortly after midnight. The victims included two pilots and two flight nurses.
According to the preliminary NTSB report, investigators stated the crew reported losing GPS at midnight, minutes after departure. The report said they had to request assistance from air traffic control. “GPS jamming activities that encompassed the area around the accident flight were being conducted by the United States military during the time of the flight,” the report stated.
The report said air traffic control called their operation supervisor and requested the military to stop the GPS jamming. Air traffic control tried to guide the aircraft with radar headings and later cleared it for an instrument approach, then switched to a ground-based landing system. Several minutes later, the crew reported having a visual on Ruidoso. There were no other transmissions from the aircraft.
The report said flight tracking data showed the aircraft descending, approaching the Capitan mountains, which rise above 10,000 feet. The plane ultimately struck the side of the mountain at about 9,950 feet in elevation.
For the War Department to do this test in public areas where commercial flights occur is bad enough. Such tests should always be restricted to military bases in isolated areas, of which the Pentagon has many. If this isn’t satisfactory to the Pentagon than at a minimum it should be prepared to cancel the test instantly when notified a plane is in trouble because of it.
In this case it clearly was not prepared to cancel quickly, and thus four people died unnecessarily.
The NTSB notes this this report is still preliminary and that its investigation is on-going.
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I would also blame pilot error. The pilot in command should have been ready to switch to non-GPS navaids – which still exist. I earned my instrument rating long before GPS, so it is possible to ‘fly the beams’ safely without it. Over-reliance on GPS resulted in the PIC having no idea where he was’
‘A VOR (Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range) is a ground-based radio navigation aid that has guided aircraft for decades before GPS became widespread FLYING Magazine. It provides azimuth (direction) information to pilots, allowing them to determine their position relative to a VOR station and fly along specific radials (magnetic bearings from the station)’
Types of VOR Facilities
VOR – provides azimuth only.
VOR/DME – adds distance measurement (DME) to azimuth.
VORTAC – combines VOR and TACAN (military)
In short, VORs remain a critical backup navigation tool in aviation, especially in GPS outages, and are still taught in pilot training for safety and operational flexibility’
Additionally, basic pilotage comes into play.
You must review the chart for your entire planned flight.
If you have objects at 10,000, you fly at 10,500, until you clear them.
If there are mountains in the vicinity of your destination, the landing charts specify this and the safe limits.
My instructor for private pilot switched off my GPS almost every other flight to make sure I knew how to navigate.
As a mariner, I had to learn piloting and celestial.
The over-reliance on satellite navigation is clear. It is also why every major military in the world is testing how to jam it.
Outrageous!
This actually goes way beyond Strategy Over Morality and right into just plain stupid.
The story doesn’t tell us whether a NOTAM (NOtice To AirMen) was issued prior to the GPS jamming. You ignore the NOTAMs and you pay the price.
Well then stupid on someone’s part.
BINGO!
‘The Federal Aviation Administration published a Notice to Airmen ahead of time warning any pilots flying into the area that the military would be jamming GPS signals, so aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said the medevac pilots should have been prepared to rely on other navigation systems.’
Experts say the pilots should have been able to land safely by relying on ground-based navigation systems or flying visually, but relying on GPS is popular because it is so precise.
“The loss of GPS should not result in the loss of an airplane, so there’s got to be more to it than that,” said retired airline pilot John Cox, who is now CEO of Safety Operating Systems.
The NTSB said that when the pilots of the plane operated by Trans Aero MedEvac started having problems, the air traffic controller gave them headings to follow into the airport so they could get lined up for an approach relying on the airport’s instrument landing system. Three other planes in the area also reported GPS problems around the same time.
At one point, the controller even contacted the military and got it to shut down the jammers. But then shortly before the crash, the pilots told controllers they had the airport in sight and planned to land visually, so controllers gave the military the OK to resume jamming.
“If you can see the runway, you can see the mountain. Why would you fly into it?” Cox asked, because even with the new details in this preliminary report, there are still many unanswered
There have been other CFIT crashes at night with runway in sight. The “black hole” problem.
Coincidentally this Captain Ron video came out today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3jtXItenTQ
Isn’t there a whole lot of Pacific ocean that we have control of that we can do this in? If I recall correctly the Compact of Free Association gives the US control over an area of the Pacific that is larger than the continental US. Or we could use the bases at Guam or we could use the Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa. Or thousands or miles in and around Alaska.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_of_Free_Association
https://www.doi.gov/ocl/freely-associated-states-0
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/exclusive-economic-zone-eez
NTSB needs to catch up a bit, for there is an active GPS jamming program over Europe for the last few months. No fatalities yet, but the miscreants are yet to be identified, though Russians are roundly blamed.
What is unmentioned is the Buff crash at Edwards earlier this week. AF has been very quiet leading to a plethora of speculation including, but not limited to: a petawatt laser weapon test mounted in the bomb bay that functioned early (shades of Real Genius, 1985. Second would be a story that the Buff impacted vertically, which is hard to right after takeoff.
Either way, an awful accident. Prayers for the surviving families. Cheers –
After the suspected Russian jamming of GPS, what was I saying just the other day about US military GPS jamming?
There is that well known field in sight at night then hit terrain problem.
Can’t the military simulate operating in a GPS denied environment by just turning off the receivers in their assets?
Mike,
You have it backward.
They are not testing operations in a GPS denied environment.
They are testing the ability to create a GPS denied/degraded environment.
They had the ability to spoof/jam GPS 25 years ago which is why Clinton permanently turned off Selective Availability (deliberate degrading of accuracy – probably one of the few good things he did). I remember that well as I was about to do the circuit board layout for an electronic altimeter for a sailplane glide computer when the announcement was made. It made the vertical accuracy WAY better. Used to be in the hundreds of feet uncertainty, went down to less than 50 feet which was acceptable and GPS altitude is better than pressure altitude for the sailplane glide use.
I know they do some exercises at Red Flag in a GPS denied environment. If testing an ability you don’t need to jam GPS for days at a time over wide areas of CONUS.
Big rush to pilot error. Personally I find that disgusting. 1. It’s an ambulance flight; psychological factor for the crew. 2. At night in sparsely populated, mountainous, low ground lighting conditions with zero moon. 3. Intentional GPS jamming. 4. Busy ATC. So many impinging factors, but let’s blame the crew for not being perfect. I’m a rusty pilot with low hours, but I’ve been in some situations. This “if you were a real man you would have survived” stuff really sets me off.
And “If you can see the runway, you can see the mountain. Why would you fly into it?” is a very ignorant take.
I agree.
Sometimes it seems to be poor piloting, other times loading a pilot up with all sorts of extraneous matters is a contributing factor.
To the downvoter: would love to see your actual argument.
I think that in the first gulf war they actually changed the timing signal to give the Iraqis false information.
Moved the Iraqi boarder something like 60 km into Saudi Arabia.
It was very tricky to do and never tested before. If it could not be turned back to normal the whole system would have been useless.