ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – Authorities in Lincoln County have confirmed that all four people on board a missing medical aircraft have died after the plane crashed in the Capitan Mountains.
According to officials, the King Air aircraft was traveling from Roswell to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso early Thursday morning when it failed to arrive as scheduled. After radar and communication contact were lost, search and rescue crews were deployed to the area.
Responders later located the crash site in a remote part of the Capitan Mountains, where a small fire—estimated at less than five acres—was also reported. Emergency crews worked to access the scene in difficult terrain.
Lincoln County officials confirmed that four individuals were on board the aircraft, and all four were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities have not yet been released, pending notification of next of kin.
Multiple agencies are involved in the response and investigation, including the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. Authorities say the cause of the crash remains unknown and under investigation.
Officials say more information will be released as it becomes available.
