Medical plane crash in New Mexico kills 4, FAA says

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 A FAA flag is displayed at the Orville Wright Federal Building which houses the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters on June, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

RUIDOSO, New Mexico - A small medical aircraft crashed near Ruidoso, New Mexico, on Thursday morning, killing all four people on board, officials reported.

What we don't know:

The cause of the crash remains unknown, according to Lincoln County Manager Jason Burns.

The victims were flight crew and medical personnel, Burns said. Their names have not yet been made public.

What we know:

The flight departed from Roswell Air Center and was headed to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

A fire "associated" with the crash is estimated to be less than 5 acres, Burns said. The U.S. Forest Service is working with local agencies to suppress the fire.

What they're saying:

"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 at a news conference.

The plane operated by Trans Aero MedEvac had been on a medical transportation mission and was reported overdue after communications and radar contact were lost, the company said in a statement.

"We ask everyone to continue keeping the families of our crew members, as well as the first responders and personnel actively working this crisis, in your thoughts and prayers," the company said.

Dig deeper:

Conditions across southern New Mexico are hot and dry, with a red flag high fire risk warning issued for the Ruidoso area because of low humidity and wind gusts that could reach 35 mph. 

Big picture view:

Ruidoso, a mountain town with a year-round population of less than 8,000, sits at the base of south-central New Mexico’s Sierra Blanca range. The surrounding area, which includes Lincoln National Forest, is heavily forested and rural.

Five people were killed when a medical plane crashed in the Devil's Canyon area of Lincoln National Forest in 2007. That crash came almost immediately after the flight left Ruidoso Regional Airport bound for Albuquerque.

There have been several prominent medical plane crashes in the past 18 months, including when a jet crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January 2025, killing eight people, and four people killed in August when a plane crashed on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. In December, a Mexican Navy plane carrying a young patient and seven others crashed off the coast of Texas in the Gulf.

A recent study tallied 87 air medical accidents that killed 239 people over a 20-year period ending in 2020. Most of those involved helicopters and some degree of human error such as disoriented pilots, maintenance problems, impairment, fatigue or misjudging the weather.