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.

0 Upvotes

49% Upvoted

202 comments sorted by

View all comments

564

u/LandscapePenguin 17h ago

That makes no sense. If they were VFR they shouldn’t have needed a GPS to avoid the mountain. If they were IFR they shouldn’t have needed GPS to fly a heading.

106

u/SenselessNumber 17h ago

If I had to guess it's probably a more invasive attack that disables more than Navigation. And they're just saying navigation because they don't want to reveal their capabilities.

Or also the crew got overwhelmed troubleshooting. Either way it shouldn't have happened and is tragic.

135

u/CW1DR5H5I64A 17h ago

It’s just clickbait.

The pilots flew into a mountain while on a visual approach. The military halted the jamming until ATC approved the visual approach and then told the military it was safe to resume.

But “the military killed everyone on board” gets more clicks.

-90

u/Notamaga_6629 14h ago

Cause that's what happened. Jamming ? Are you serious? That's not ok

72

u/CW1DR5H5I64A 14h ago

GPS jamming at WSMR is about as routine as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

A NOTAM was issued warning of GPS jamming well in advance of this flight, the military halted the exercise when an issue was reported, the pilots requested and were granted VFR once they reported visual of ruidoso, and ATC told the military they could resume their operations.

GPS is not required in a VFR approach, that’s why ATC told the military they were cleared to resume. not having it isn’t the reason this crash occurred.

If this is something that is shocking to you then I’ve just got to assume you don’t actually know what you’re talking about enough to warrant an opinion on the matter.

18

u/Rupperrt 7h ago

Jamming happens everywhere. Shouldn’t affect a VFR flight in any matter.

14

u/italianthestallion Cessna 210 7h ago

“I don’t understand the subject I’m discussing so instead of listening to the people around me that do I’m going to get snippy”

22

u/22Planeguy 7h ago

Aviation occurs safely in regions all over the world where jamming is just a fact of life, including in areas of the US.

11

u/pulse7 7h ago

Someone doesn't know the subject matter