FATAL FLIGHT

Three People Dead After Helicopters Collide

One of the helicopters was on an instructional flight that killed the pilot and student.

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A helicopter crash on a private farm next to a highway killed three people on Thursday. Two helicopters collided midair near an Oregon airport at 2:10 p.m., local authorities said. Witnesses reported the collision, prompting the highway to close. “All of a sudden I hear this big boom and this metal breaking, and I look up and just see these two helicopters just collided in mid-air,” Leo Rodriguez, who witnessed the crash from his family vineyard, told CNN. Responders found a red helicopter in pieces and a green helicopter lying upside down. The two aircraft were identified as a 1995 Robinson R22 and a 2018 Airbus AS350B3 helicopter. The Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the incident happened near McMinnville, which is about 40 miles southwest of Portland, and that Texan flight instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, and a student pilot from the U.K. were aboard the Robinson. The identity of the student hasn’t been released as authorities work with the consulate and the FBI to notify the family, the sheriff said. Newberg resident Tyler Delane Sturdevant, 38, was the Airbus’ sole occupant. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were among the responders and are conducting the investigation, with the NTSB leading, according to the sheriff and the FAA.