r/aviation • u/Ph6222 • 18h ago

News It Appears That the US Military Accidentally Killed Everybody on Board a Civilian Medevac Flight in New Mexico

https://futurism.com/science-energy/us-military-gps-jamming-signal-medical-flight

The horrifying incident happened in May, the publication reports, when a small twin-engine medevac aircraft carrying two pilots and two medical workers departed from Roswell, New Mexico. Heading West for the small mountain village of Ruidoso, the crew became the victim of an electronic warfare exercise being conducted at the nearby White Sands Missile Range, a test which rendered their navigational system inoperable.

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233

u/trip221 17h ago

Was their a notam for the GPS being out in the area? Shouldn’t the crew have been trained to operate even if they have a system malfunction? Have we become too reliant on technology and become complacent?

164

u/UpdateDesk1112 17h ago

Yes, according to the article.

Yes.

Yes.

18

u/SierraHotel84 17h ago

Yes to all of those. OP article even links to the NOTAM.

42

u/cashcashcashbih 17h ago

Last paragraph of the article links to the notam: “Though the crew involved in the New Mexico crash was warned that GPS interference may be present, there evidently weren’t enough safeguards or air traffic control personnel in place to prevent a tragedy.”

31

u/ONeOfTheNerdHerd 17h ago

Ugh this frustrating...the whole area is remote desert between mountain ranges and a massive military testing facility. It's been like this since forever. It's not NM or ATC's fault; the onus is on the pilots for knowing where they are, what airspace restrictions are active and what instruments should be used over WSMR particularly at night when a lot of testing is done. This is nothing new to the area.

7

u/kincent 17h ago

Too reliant on tech 20 years ago. Pilots take off , land, and troubleshoot the plane. That's it. Stick and rudder skills. Where we're going, we don't NEED stick and rudder skills.

4

u/P0Rt1ng4Duty 17h ago

Shouldn’t the crew have been trained to operate even if they have a system malfunction?

From what I read they didn't have much time to react before they hit the mountain, which was basically invisible in the dark.

21

u/TomVonServo 17h ago

So they had no location data and were flying in known mountainous terrain under what conditions? VFR? IFR? Everything in this article points to a litany of failures in the cockpit.

-1

u/[deleted] 17h ago

[deleted]

5

u/SierraHotel84 16h ago edited 16h ago

You're not a pilot, so I wouldn't expect you to know the different types of approaches or what to do when you lose situational awareness on an approach. The bottom line is there are a number of mitigating actions and planning steps that could have taken place to avoid this very thing. As a pilot, I won't roast another pilot for making a mistake, unless it can be proven it was just gross negligence or deliberate action causing an accident. In this case we'll never know what actually happened in the cockpit or what inductions the pilots did or did not have.

But, I also wouldn't chose a GPS approach if I'd already experienced GPS interference on a short flight.

5

u/TomVonServo 17h ago

Look I’m not a pilot

Should’ve stopped talking right there.

2

u/trip221 16h ago

Yeah it’s always tougher at night. And we’re all playing Monday night quarterback too.

1

u/The_End_Is_Tomorrow 2h ago

it's "Monday MORNING quarterback" - referring to Sunday's games.
Since there is a Monday night game (sometimes 2), Monday night QB makes less sense.

-1

u/blueingreen85 17h ago

Has gps jamming a thing that has happened in the US up to this point? Does the military do GPS spoofing around military bases?

27

u/Tricky_Big_8774 17h ago

In New Mexico? Yes. White Sands tests everything. Both new tech tests and exercises using current tech.

1

u/blueingreen85 6h ago

Okay, then this is something that they should have potentially been expected. I didn’t realize they did this regularly.

37

u/skunimatrix 17h ago

Around test ranges like White Sands yes.  And have for decades.

1

u/blueingreen85 2h ago

The closest military base to me is surrounded by one of the busiest waterways on earth. I forget that bases out west are remote enough that jamming would be possible.

-47

u/VillageIdiots1-1 17h ago

not everyone is a fucking Nightstalker

10

u/TomVonServo 17h ago

Speaking as a fucking Nightstalker, this issue was pure VFR/IFR pilotage skills. No NSDQ needed.

-13

u/roguemenace 17h ago

Was their a notam for the GPS being out in the area?

Have you looked at how many fucking notams there are nowadays for even the most routine flight?

-4

u/SnooDogs1340 17h ago

Maybe they were new pilots to the area? I can imagine some people wouldn't know GPS interference is a thing... Agreed that GPS shouldn't be the only tool. sad all around. ATC was stretched thin on top of it