U.S. military’s increasing activities in electronic warfare may have played a key role in the deaths of all crew members of a civilian MedEvac plane when it crashed into a New Mexico mountainside in May.
The civilian medical evacuation plane took off from Roswell Air Center late May 13, 2026, en route to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso to pick up a patient.
GPS Jamming Exercise
A preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board disclosed the aircraft lost GPS capability minutes after takeoff. During that time, U.S. military personnel were conducting a GPS jamming exercise associated with White Sands Missile Range.
Air traffic controllers requested the military to suspend the jamming after the pilots reported losing GPS navigation. Controllers then provided radar vectors and other assistance. The military resumed the exercise after the plane crew reported the airport in sight.
Shortly after midnight on May 14, the aircraft descended into the Capitan Mountains and reportedly struck terrain at an elevation of about 9,950 feet on a dark night. The crash sparked a wildfire that burned for weeks.
Authorities identified the victims as Generation Jets pilots Keelan Clark, 30, and Ali Kawsara, 23, along with Trans Aero MedEvac flight nurses Sarah Clark and Jamie Novick.
Federal investigators said notices to airmen had warned of the scheduled GPS interference. Other aircraft in the area also reported navigation disruptions that night.
High-Energy Laser
Military officials, however, have not publicly released details of the training exercise.
The crash has gained attention on the increasing use of electronic warfare training in U.S. airspace and its impact on civil aviation.
Earlier this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection flew a drone into restricted military airspace near Fort Hancock, Texas, without informing military authorities. In response, the U.S. military used a high-energy laser to disable the aircraft, a U.S. official said.
The discussion of high-energy laser resurfaced a month after the MedEvac incident. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth witnessed a rare live demonstration of high‑energy laser and high‑power microwave weapons staged by the Defense Department. The event took place at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range.
Investigators said the MedEvac incident was the first known deadly U.S. civilian aviation accident linked to domestic military electronic warfare training. The NTSB has not determined the likely cause of the crash. Investigators, however, said a final report will be available next year.
