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How GPS jamming and drones are creating new threats for civilian aviation

A Ukrainian "Chaklun" long-range strike drone takes off from a mobile launcher during an operational launch targeting Russian military installations in Crimea, from an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Dan Bashakov/AP)
Dan Bashakov/AP
A Ukrainian "Chaklun" long-range strike drone takes off from a mobile launcher during an operational launch targeting Russian military installations in Crimea, from an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Dan Bashakov/AP)

Last May, a medevac plane crashed into the Capitan Mountains in New Mexico at night after a military GPS jamming exercise at the nearby White Sands Missile Range knocked out the plane’s GPS.

It’s the first civilian plane crash in the U.S. linked to military GPS jamming.

Jeff Wise, a science and aviation journalist, joins us to discuss how drones are posing a new threat to civilian aviation, even far from the battlefield.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR