Three Killed as Two Helicopters Collide Over Farm Field Near McMinnville, Oregon

Two helicopters collided in midair Thursday afternoon and crashed into a farm field near McMinnville, Oregon, about 40 miles southwest of Portland, killing all three people aboard the two aircraft, according to the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Aviation Administration. There were no survivors.

The crash happened a short distance from McMinnville Municipal Airport, a city-owned field that is home to both a helicopter flight school and a charter operator. One aircraft, a Robinson R22 used for flight instruction, was carrying flight instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, of Texas, and a 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom. The other, an Airbus AS350B3 operated by the McMinnville-based charter firm Precision Helicopters, was flown by Tyler Sturdevant, 38, of nearby Newberg, Oregon, according to KATU-TV, the Portland ABC affiliate.

A short flight that never made it back

According to flight-tracking data cited by KATU, the AS350 took off from McMinnville around 1:50 p.m., flew northeast to the town of Newberg, circled a few times, and then turned back toward the airport. Its tracked flight path ends less than a mile east of the field about 20 minutes after takeoff. Yamhill County dispatchers began receiving 911 calls from witnesses around 2:10 p.m. reporting that two helicopters had gone down.

The wreckage came down in a privately owned field near Southeast Highway 154 and Stringtown Road, southeast of the airport. The Oregon Department of Transportation closed Highway 233 about a mile west of the nearby town of Dayton while crews worked the scene, and surrounding roads were shut for several hours. CBS News reported that multiple agencies, including sheriff's deputies and emergency crews, responded.

• Time of collision: approximately 2:10 p.m. local time, Thursday, Oct. 29
• Location: a farm field roughly 40 miles southwest of Portland, near McMinnville Municipal Airport
• Aircraft involved: a Robinson R22 and an Airbus AS350B3
• Fatalities: three, all occupants of both aircraft; no survivors

Who died

The sheriff's office identified the pilot of the AS350 as Sturdevant and the flight instructor aboard the R22 as Aasbo. Officials have not publicly released the name of the British student pilot; according to KATU, the FBI and a foreign consulate were working to notify his family. Both outlets noted that the sheriff's account of who was aboard which aircraft differed in some respects from information the FAA had released earlier Thursday, though the three names and the overall death toll were consistent by Thursday evening.

Two operators, one uncontrolled airfield

McMinnville Municipal Airport has no air traffic control tower; pilots coordinate over a shared common radio frequency rather than through controllers, according to aviation data aggregator AirNav. The field hosts Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight school that trains students in Robinson helicopters, as well as Precision Helicopters, a charter operator that flies the larger Airbus AS350. Both businesses are listed as airport tenants on the city's own airport page. Neither CBS News nor KATU reported that air traffic control communications, weather or any other specific condition contributed to the collision; the National Transportation Safety Board, which said it will lead the investigation, has not released findings on cause.

McMinnville's uncontrolled status is not unusual: most airports in the United States, including many that host flight schools and charter operators side by side, have no control tower, and pilots are expected to self-announce their position and intentions over a shared frequency and visually scan for other traffic rather than receive instructions from a controller. The Robinson R22 is among the most widely used helicopters for flight instruction nationally because of its relatively low operating cost, while the larger, more powerful Airbus AS350B3 is a common choice for charter, tour and utility work — a mix of light training traffic and heavier charter traffic that is common at small regional airports around the country, and one that has long drawn safety attention from federal investigators.

Jerry Trimble Helicopters posted a brief statement on Facebook, quoted by CBS News:

"Our hearts and thoughts are with the individuals involved, their families and everyone affected by the event."

A spokesperson for Precision Helicopters told KATU the company was focused on supporting the families affected and asked the public to "respect our privacy and that of the family," adding that the firm is working with "governing agencies and officials" to help determine what happened.

What happens next

The FAA confirmed the collision and said the NTSB would take over as lead investigator, a standard division of labor for fatal civil aviation accidents. The FAA's Northwest Mountain region office, which oversees airports and airspace in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, is expected to assist. NTSB investigators typically document wreckage, examine flight-track and radio data, and interview witnesses in the days after a crash, with a preliminary report often following within several weeks; a final report determining probable cause can take a year or longer.

For now, Yamhill County authorities have not said whether flight operations at McMinnville Municipal Airport have been affected, and neither Jerry Trimble Helicopters nor Precision Helicopters has said whether it is pausing flights while the investigation proceeds. The identity of the British student pilot had not been released as of Thursday night, pending notification of his family.