list of flexible phrases (with some other options to explore in the permutations):

-known instance (swept-under-the-rug instance, unverified instance)

-military (paramilitary, police, civilian)

-GPS jamming (EMP, communications jamming)

-played a role (did, caused, was behind, happened close to)

-downing (exploding, grounding, disappearing)

-civilian plane (terrorist-linked plane, unknown plane, plane claimed to be civilain by [insert enemy country])

-in US airspace (in the world, over this specific mountain range, in civilian airspace)

I like the combination:

'It's the first unverified instance where paramilitary EMP happened close to an exploding terrorist-linked plane above the Mississippi River'

or the simple removal of most of it, which the writers hope you imagine when you read it:

'It’s the first instance where US GPS jamming happened close to a non-combatant plane'