Four people died in a plane crash that also caused a weeks-long wildfire in the US after the aircraft lost its GPS signal because of a military jamming exercise.

The medical evacuation plane’s GPS went dark eight minutes after takeoff in the early hours of 14 May. After the pilot made contact with air traffic control, the military was asked to pause its activity by the control supervisor.

With the GPS reactivated, the medevac plane confirmed it had a visual on Sierra Blanca Regional Airport in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The air control tower’s supervisor advised the military it could resume its jamming.

The small Beech C90 aircraft agreed on a visual approach, but ended up crashing into a mountainside, killing all four people on board – two pilots and two flight nurses. The crash caused a forest fire which took almost a month to put out.

It is reportedly the first time that a military exercise has been linked to the crash of a civilian plane in the US.

Preliminary findings by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicate that visibility was poor: “Dark night (0% moon illumination).” The medevac plane was not the only aircraft to report struggling with its flight apparatus that night.

The NTSB writes: “During this segment of the flight, the Air Route Traffic Control Centre controller provided services to other air traffic, including three additional aircraft that reported a loss of GPS. One of those aircraft expressed difficulty identifying a directed to ground based navigation aid and required additional assistance from ARTCC.”

According to US specialist news site Military.com, the jamming exercises were scheduled as part of an army routine geared at preparing soldiers for operating in hostile conditions, including facing enemy combatants without GPS capabilities.

Usually, civilian pilots are forewarned about the testing through federal notices. A stop buzzer is given to air traffic controllers as an additional precautionary measure, allowing them to ask the military to pause jamming.

The plane crash occurred just 14 minutes before the military exercise was due to end. The NTSB said a full report would be ready in 2027.

In a statement, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said: “GPS interference created by military jamming operations has been a concern for years, particularly as the dissemination of related notams [notices to air missions] has been inconsistent.”

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