Texas Flight Instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, Among Three Killed in Oregon Helicopter Collision
Two helicopters collided in midair Thursday afternoon near McMinnville Municipal Airport in Oregon, killing Aasbo, her student pilot from the United Kingdom, and the pilot of the second aircraft. The NTSB is leading the investigation.
A Texas flight instructor is among the three people killed when two helicopters collided in midair Thursday afternoon near McMinnville Municipal Airport in Oregon. Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott identified the dead at a news conference as Maddie Aasbo, 22, a flight instructor from Texas; a 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom whose name is being withheld until family can be notified; and Tyler Sturdevant, 38, of Newberg, Oregon, according to the Associated Press report carried by CNN's wire.
The collision happened at about 2:15 p.m. local time. Aasbo and the student were aboard a Robinson R22 on an instructional flight, and Sturdevant was the sole occupant of an Airbus helicopter on a maintenance flight, the sheriff said. Both aircraft came down in a private farm field near the airport, about 40 miles southwest of Portland, and there were no survivors. The Oregon Department of Transportation closed a one-mile stretch of nearby Highway 233 because of the crash, with no estimate for reopening given Thursday afternoon.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, and the Federal Aviation Administration is also probing the incident, the FAA said. One of the helicopters was operated by Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight training school and rental service based at the airport, which said in a statement that it is working with authorities. What brought the two aircraft together has not been determined.
