US investigators have yet to determine why a Beechcraft C90 King Air air ambulance crashed into high terrain during a night approach in New Mexico earlier this year, the National Transportation Safety Board said, cautioning that its inquiry remains open.
The accident, which happened on 14 May 2026, left no survivors among the two pilots and two nurses on board. In an update on 5 August, the NTSB stressed that it has “not yet determined the probable cause or any contributing factors” and continues to validate and analyse all available evidence.
According to the safety board, the aircraft had been descending from 12,000ft toward Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso, which sits at an elevation of about 6,800ft. The crew had initially planned an area navigation approach — which relies on satellite positioning — to runway 24, but switched to an ILS approach after losing GPS navigation capability. Neither procedure was authorised without a local altimeter setting, and a NOTAM indicated that the airport’s automated weather system was out of service.
After being directed to fly northwest for a vectored approach, the crew told the area controller — about 27nm northeast of the airport — that they had “a visual on Ruidoso” and could “go visual.” That meant turning southwest and descending over the Capitan mountains, which rise to some 10,200ft, in darkness and zero moonlight just after midnight.
Roughly five minutes into the descent, the aircraft reached the mountain ridge at about 9,400ft, according to GPS-generated altitude data from its Spidertracks tracking equipment. It then began to climb but, about 45 seconds later, collided with terrain at approximately 9,950ft.
Complicating the investigation is the fact that military GPS jamming activity was taking place near the White Sands Missile Range at the time. The Albuquerque air route traffic control center had issued a NOTAM warning that the activity could interfere with GPS navigation and ADS-B. That has fuelled speculation in some media channels that the King Air’s GPS equipment may have supplied false information to the crew. The NTSB, however, has not drawn that conclusion, reiterating that it has not yet identified a probable cause or any contributing factors.
The twin-turboprop Beechcraft King Air is among the most widely used aircraft in the air-ambulance and utility roles, valued for its short-field performance and its ability to reach smaller regional airports. The investigation’s final report, expected in the months ahead, is likely to examine the interplay between the loss of GPS guidance, the unavailable weather reporting and the decision to continue a visual approach over mountainous terrain at night.
Sources: FlightGlobal. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By James Holloway.
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