The preliminary investigation report describes the fatal crash of a Beech C90 air ambulance on 14 May 2026 in New Mexico. All four occupants (two pilots and two flight nurses) were killed when the aircraft impacted mountainous terrain.
The aircraft departed Roswell (ROW) shortly before midnight en route to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (SRR) to collect a patient for transfer to Albuquerque. Conditions were VMC, but it was a very dark night with 0% moon illumination.
Shortly after departure, the crew reported losing GPS capability. Air Traffic Control (ATC) advised the aircraft it was 1,000 ft above its assigned altitude and subsequently provided headings and radar vectors because of the navigation difficulties. The crew initially requested the RNAV approach but later switched to the ILS approach due to the GPS outage.
At the time of the flight, military GPS jamming exercises were active in the area and a NOTAM warning of potential GPS disruption had been issued. ATC requested that the military temporarily stop jamming after the crew reported GPS loss. Several other aircraft in the area also reported GPS navigation problems.
After receiving radar assistance, the crew reported having the airport area in sight and requested to continue visually. ATC cleared the flight for a visual approach to SRR. The crew stated they intended to cancel IFR shortly, but no further communications were received.
The route to the airport required crossing the Capitan Mountains, where terrain rises to over 10,200 ft. After beginning its descent toward the airport, the aircraft continued descending before briefly climbing. It subsequently struck terrain approximately 730 ft east and 230 ft below a mountain summit radio facility. A post-impact fire ignited a forest fire.
The flight path reconstruction shows the GPS-loss event, ATC intervention, transition to a visual approach, and the aircraft’s final track toward rising terrain.
The report is preliminary and does not identify a probable cause. The crew had received NOTAMs warning of GPS jamming in the area.
The destination Automated Weather Observing System was out of service.
No METAR / TAF weather information was available for the destination.
Both published approaches to SRR contained a note stating they were not authorised when the local altimeter setting was unavailable.
Multiple aircraft reported GPS disruptions during the same period.
Photo source: Archangel12, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons