Ruidoso, New Mexico: A small medical transport plane crashed in a mountainous area outside the town of Ruidoso in New Mexico before dawn on Thursday, killing all four people on board and triggering a wildfire in the surrounding forest, authorities said.
The aircraft went down in the rugged Capitan Mountains, an area marked by steep and rocky terrain that made rescue and recovery efforts difficult. Officials said crews had to hike nearly half a mile to reach the crash site after the wreckage was located between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.
The victims, whose identities have not yet been released, included flight crew members and medical personnel, according to Lincoln County Manager Jason Burns.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families, loved ones, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives in this tragic incident,” Burns said during a press briefing.
The crash also ignited a wildfire that had spread to nearly 35 acres by midday amid dry weather and gusty winds. Local authorities, along with the United States Forest Service, launched efforts to contain the blaze as concerns grew over its potential spread through the heavily forested region.
The aircraft had departed from Roswell Air Center and was headed to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when communication and radar contact were lost, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane was operated by Trans Aero MedEvac, which said the aircraft had been carrying out a medical transportation mission at the time of the crash. The company reported the flight overdue after losing contact with the aircraft.
Investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have launched an inquiry to determine the cause of the accident.
The crash has revived memories of previous fatal air ambulance incidents in the region. In 2007, five people were killed when another medical aircraft crashed in the Devil’s Canyon area of Lincoln National Forest shortly after takeoff from Ruidoso.
According to NTSB records, at least 25 fatal medical plane crashes have occurred in the United States over the past 25 years, resulting in nearly 70 deaths. Several serious incidents have taken place in the last 18 months alone, including a deadly jet crash in Philadelphia earlier this year and another fatal medical plane accident in northern Arizona in 2025.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said medical evacuation plane operations are generally no more dangerous than regular aircraft flights because they typically travel between established airports. Helicopter-based medical missions, however, tend to carry higher risks due to emergency landings in difficult environments.
“Typically when an air medical airplane accident occurs, the reasons are usually the same as any other airplane accident,” Guzzetti said. “There’s not unique issues with the air medical mission.”
