Contributor - Safety

David Jack Kenny

<h2>Preliminary Reports</h2>
<h3>Fatal Air Ambulance Crash Occurred during GPS Jamming Exercises</h3>
<h4>Beechcraft C90, May 14, 2026, Lincoln, New Mexico</h4>
<p>The King Air that crashed on approach to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (KSRR) in Ruidoso, New Mexico, was one of four aircraft that reported losses of GPS guidance during a moonless night over rural New Mexico. All four occupants—two pilots and two flight nurses—died when the twin-engine turboprop flew into the side of the Capitan Mountains at an elevation of 9,950 feet. The collision ignited a forest fire that consumed more than 31,000 acres and remained uncontained for nearly a month.</p>
<p>At 23:52 Mountain Daylight Time on May 13, the aircraft departed Roswell International Air Center (KROW), New Mexico, on a positioning leg to transport a passenger from Ruidoso to Albuquerque. Skies were clear with more than 10 miles of visibility, but the moon was below the horizon, and the crew requested an IFR clearance. Albuquerque Center cleared them “as filed” at an en route altitude of 12,000 feet.</p>
<p>At 23:58, the frequency of their ADS-B position fixes decreased from every two to three seconds to about one-minute intervals. Less than two minutes later, the controller advised that they were 1,000 feet above their assigned altitude; the pilot replied that they were correcting but had lost GPS capability. The pilot requested vectors to KSRR and initially asked for the RNAV approach to Runway 24, then amended that to the ILS. As the King Air continued northward on a 350-degree heading, three other pilots also reported GPS outages. At 00:05, the Albuquerque operations supervisor asked the military to suspend jamming operations, and at 00:07:34, ADS-B reports returned to intervals of two to three seconds.</p>
<p>At 00:08:30, still some 30 miles northeast of the airport, the flight crew reported having “a visual on Ruidoso” and said they could “go visual.” After being cleared for a visual approach, they advised that they would cancel IFR “in just a couple of minutes.” At 00:10, the Albuquerque supervisor advised the military that they could resume jamming, and ADS-B reports returned to one-minute intervals. The King Air began descending at about 00:10:27; then, at 00:14:45, it climbed from 9,400 to 9,823 feet as measured by its onboard Spidertracks data-logging system. The last fix was recorded at 00:15:26.</p>
<p>Notams provided to the crew before departure included notice of the scheduled GPS jamming exercises.</p>
<h3>Parachute Not Used after Cirrus Engine Failure</h3>
<h4>Cirrus SF50, June 2, 2026, Athens, Georgia</h4>
<p>The pilot made a successful dead-stick landing following an uncontained engine failure during initial climb. Responding to an inter-turbine temperature warning and Fadec alert, he requested a hold at 10,000 feet, switched to manual throttle control, and reduced thrust. The temperature decreased and the warning cleared, but seconds after increasing power to resume the climb, “there was a loud bang and reduction in power.”</p>
<p>He pitched the airplane for best glide, air traffic control provided vectors to Athens--Ben Epps Airport (KAHN), and he landed without power on Runway 09. A section of turbine disk was subsequently found protruding from the right side of the lower cowling.</p>
<h3>Two Killed as Gulfstream G200 Crashes during Emergency Return in Dominican Republic</h3>
<h4>Gulfstream G200, June 7, 2026, La Romana, Dominican Republic</h4>
<p>Both pilots aboard a Gulfstream G200 were killed after the twinjet crashed while attempting an emergency return to La Romana International Airport (MDLR) in the Dominican Republic. The pilots were the only occupants aboard at the time of the accident.</p>
<p>The Dominican Republic’s Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Commission and the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute are investigating the crash.</p>
<p>The airplane, N318JF, a 2004 Gulfstream G200 registered to Puerto Rico-based Aibonito Aviation, took off from La Romana International at about 3:30 p.m. local time on a scheduled flight to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Shortly after departure, the flight crew declared an in-flight emergency and attempted to return to the airport.</p>
<p>According to reports, the crew appeared to attempt a landing on Runway 11 about five minutes after takeoff. Rather than completing that landing, the aircraft circled and lined up instead on Runway 29 for a second attempt.</p>
<p>Upon touchdown on Runway 29, the aircraft veered left, and the landing gear collapsed as it departed the side of the runway. Video footage from the scene captured the stricken jet skidding across the grass at a high rate of speed before it struck a ditch, bounced into the air, and shed its left engine in the process. The jet then erupted into a fireball as it collided with a runway sign.</p>
<h2>Final Reports</h2>
<h3>Unstabilized Descent Cited in Runway Excursion</h3>
<h4>Israel Aircraft Industries 1124, Aug. 7, 2022, Nacional de Aviação Aerodrome, Goiânia, Brazil</h4>
<p>The jet’s ground proximity warning system (GPWS) recorded “a large variation in the aircraft’s rate of descent…in a short period of time and at an altitude below 500 feet,” indicative of an unstabilized approach. Rather than going around, the 3,071-hour airline transport pilot chose to land on Runway 32. After a ground roll of 2,600 feet, the airplane departed the right side of the 3,600-foot runway at an estimated speed of 80 knots, crossed a taxiway, and crashed into a brick wall. The collision collapsed the nose gear and damaged the main gear, the hydraulic system, and the underside of the fuselage. There were no injuries to either pilot or the sole passenger.</p>
<p>The aircraft departed from Nacional de Aviação Aerodrome (SBNV) in Goiânia, Brazil, at 14:10 UTC on a planned ferry flight to Santa Genoveva Airport (SBGO), also in Goiânia, that was intended to test the jet's pressurization system. After reaching FL340, the crew confirmed that there was a pressurization malfunction and requested a return to SBNV. Data recorded by the GPWS showed that as the jet descended below 400 feet on final approach, its rate of descent increased from 350 to 850, and ultimately 950 fpm.</p>
<p>Weather was favorable, with light northerly winds and a few clouds at 4,000 feet. The landing roll prior to the excursion already exceeded the calculated landing distance of 2,200 feet.</p>
<p>Accident investigators noted that the pilot at the controls had only 100 hours of jet experience and suggested this may have played a part in his failure to fly a stabilized approach. However, the final report cited no specific reasons for either the airplane’s failure to decelerate or the loss of directional control.</p>
<h3>Loss of Control Traced to Unsecured Main Rotor Servo</h3>
<h4>Airbus Helicopters AS350BA, July 20, 2024, Paringa River, South Island, New Zealand</h4>
<p>An uncommanded left roll during an attempted run-on landing resulted from maintenance personnel’s failure to secure the bolt connecting the left main rotor hydraulic servo to the transmission housing, allowing the bolt to back out in flight. The pilot and only passenger (the operator’s chief pilot) were able to evacuate the helicopter with only minor injuries after it crashed onto its left side from an altitude of 10 to 20 feet. The ship’s emergency locator transmitter activated, and a search-and-rescue effort launched by the Rescue Coordination Centre located the site just over an hour later.</p>
<p>The accident occurred during a ferry flight from Queenstown Aerodrome (NZQN) to Franz Josef (NZFJ), following nearly three weeks of scheduled maintenance, which included switching the positions of the two main rotor servos to balance wear over their service lives. A dual-inspection protocol was in use, and installation of the left servo was signed off as complete by one technician on July 6 and by the second on July 15. Track-and-balance flights were made on July 19 under a limited release-to-service authorization, and the helicopter was certified as airworthy on July 20.</p>
<p>The rotorcraft departed NZQN at 13:47 New Zealand Standard Time. Only the right seat was fitted with flight controls. The onboard audio/video recorder captured the pilot commenting on how smoothly the ship was flying, but 52 minutes after departure, he felt “a slight jolt” and noticed that the main rotor blades seemed to have gone out of track. After discussing possible causes, the pilot and passenger decided to make a precautionary landing on flat grass near the Paringa River’s mouth, and the pilot set up for a run-on landing to minimize the effects of any flight-control malfunction. Just before touchdown, torque abruptly increased from 40% to 60%, and the helicopter rolled left onto the ground. The pilot shut off the engine, and both occupants evacuated through the broken left front window.</p>
<p>On inspection, they found the left servo disconnected from its lower attachment point. The missing bolt was discovered on the transmission deck, but its nut was not found. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission concluded that it was “virtually certain” that the nut had not been tightened to the correct torque, that the required locking pin was either not installed or installed incorrectly, and that time pressure, distraction, and cumulative fatigue allowed the error to remain undetected despite dual inspections. ζ</p>
<p><em>—Amy Wilder contributed to this report</em></p>


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