Civilian plane flew into mountain and everyone died because US military was testing GPS jammers
A plane may crash for numerous reasons. Engine failure, technical problems, bad weather, or human error. But what happened to a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air
A plane may crash for numerous reasons. Engine failure, technical problems, bad weather, or human error. But what happened to a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 aircraft in May this year was different. The plane crashed into a mountain in New Mexico, killing everyone onboard. Now, a report says that the reason for this crash was the US military. As per Wired, the US military was testing new GPS jammers at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on May 13, the same day as the plane crash. Read Full Story Plane crashes during US military exercise According to the report, the plane took off from Roswell just before midnight to pick up a patient. The aircraft was carrying captain Keelan Clark, 30, first officer Ali Kawsara, 23, and two nurses. The flight, which normally takes about 30 minutes, ran into trouble soon after take-off when the crew lost GPS during the military exercise. Medevac or medical evacuation flights are considered among the riskiest in civil aviation because they are often arranged at short notice and can involve unfamiliar airstrips.
While the conditions were clear, the rural terrain and lack of moonlight gave the crew little visual reference, making things more difficult. Eight minutes after take-off, at midnight on May 14, the pilots told Albuquerque Center that they had lost GPS. They asked for headings from air traffic control, which first directed them west and then north. The crew initially wanted to fly an RNAV approach, which depends on GPS, and then requested an Instrument Landing System approach instead. At 12:05 am, the controller told them vectors would be provided "in a couple of minutes.” But other aircraft were also reporting GPS problems that night, and the controller was handling multiple disruptions at once. By 12:08 am, the King Air had overshot the landing pattern by 10 miles. At that stage, the pilots asked to "go visual,” and the request was approved. A visual landing is one where pilots primarily fly based on what they see, without relying on instrument-guided course and glidepath signals. In front of them, stood 10,000-feet high Capitan Mountains.
Ultimately, the pilots became disoriented as they tried to continue visually on a dark, nearly moonless night, and flew into the side of a mountain, killing all four onboard. Do note that the US Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a statement following the report. The NTSB says that it "has not yet determined the probable cause or any contributing factors to the accident.” How did GPS jammers lead to the crash? You see, the US military was reportedly testing new GPS jammers. Such jammers are used in electronic warfare when you want to disable navigation systems of enemy aircraft. That is, anyone within range of such a jammer is unlikely to be able to use GPS. The US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) had warned that GPS could be affected up to 400 miles away between May 12 and May 18 for this specific test in New Mexico. This meant that the King Air 90 aircraft, among other flights, could not use GPS for navigation.
The BriefWire