Two helicopters collide over Oregon farm field near McMinnville, killing three

Three people were killed Thursday afternoon when two helicopters struck each other in flight and came down in a farm field outside McMinnville, Oregon, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said, according to KHQ.

Deputies got the first report at roughly 2:14 p.m., the sheriff's office told KHQ. The collision took place in the area where Highway 154 meets Stringtown Road, to the town's southeast, and roads around the site were shut during the emergency response. Associated Press coverage published by OPB and News4JAX put the location a few miles east of McMinnville's airport, in the Willamette Valley wine country about an hour from Portland, and said skies were cloudy.

According to KHQ, the sheriff's office identified the aircraft as a 1995 Robinson R22 and a 2018 Airbus AS350B3. News4JAX reported that the National Transportation Safety Board said the Robinson was being used for flight training, while the Airbus was on a test flight of the kind normally flown after repair or servicing work.

At a news conference, Sheriff Sam Elliott named two of the victims, OPB reported. Maddie Aasbo, 22, a Texas flight instructor, was in the Robinson along with her student, a 31-year-old from Britain. KHQ said the student's name was being withheld until family members could be told. Tyler Sturdevant, 38, a Newberg resident, was alone in the Airbus.

Leo Rodriguez was working atop a barn at his family's nearby winery when the aircraft met. "There was an explosion mid-air," he told KPTV, as cited by OPB. He said the bigger helicopter took a hit to its tail section and then turned as it fell, while the smaller one plunged straight to the ground.

Photos released by the sheriff's office showed one red helicopter badly crushed and a green one flipped onto its top, OPB reported.

The Robinson belonged to Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight school, and the Airbus to Precision, a charter and maintenance firm. OPB reported that both companies said they were working with investigators and assisting the families. Precision called Sturdevant its senior pilot. His LinkedIn profile lists more than two decades with the company and four years as a pilot examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration, according to OPB.

Aasbo was a graduate of the wildlife management program at Southwest Texas College in Uvalde and rode on the school's rodeo team from 2021 to 2023, News4JAX reported.

KHQ said the NTSB and FAA have taken charge of the investigation. On Friday, the NTSB said investigators were en route to inspect the wreckage. Officials have not announced a cause.

Compiled by True News from reporting by OPB, News4JAX, KSAT and KHQ. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/623