2 helicopters crash midair in Oregon, killing an experienced pilot, an instructor and a student

Midair Collision in Oregon Farm Country Kills Three

Two helicopters collided midair on Thursday afternoon near an airport in McMinnville, Oregon, crashing into a farm field and killing three people, local authorities confirmed. The crash happened around 2 p.m. on a cloudy day, bringing down a red Airbus AS350B3 and a green Robinson R22 into the broad, flat Willamette Valley near the foothills of the Coast Range.

Leo Rodriguez was working on a nearby barn roof at his family’s winery when the aircraft struck each other. “There was an explosion mid-air,” Rodriguez told KPTV. “I bent over to do something and then, boom, and I look up and the planes were already going down.” He recalled seeing the tail end of the larger helicopter get struck before it veered toward the ground, while the smaller aircraft fell straight down.

Victims and Aircraft Details

Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott identified the victims during a news conference as 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant, an experienced pilot from Oregon; 22-year-old Maddie Aasbo, a flight instructor from Texas; and a 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom whose name has not been released. Sturdevant was piloting the Airbus on a maintenance flight, which is typically conducted after repairs or servicing. Aasbo and the student pilot were aboard the Robinson on an instructional flight.

2 helicopters crash midair in Oregon, killing an experienced pilot, an instructor and a student

Law enforcement photographs from the scene showed the red Airbus crumpled in the farm field, while the green Robinson came to rest upside down. The aircraft are registered to Jerry Trimble Helicopters and Precision, respectively. Both companies stated they are cooperating fully with investigators while assisting the grieving families.

The Ongoing Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board announced that an investigative team was dispatched to examine the wreckage near McMinnville, about an hour’s drive southwest of Portland. Officials have not yet determined the precise cause of the collision in the skies over Oregon’s wine country.

Tributes poured in for Sturdevant, who worked as a pilot examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration for four years and spent more than two decades with Precision. In an Instagram post, Precision remembered him as a beloved senior pilot who touched countless lives by mentoring aviators along the way.