An experienced pilot was on a test run in a helicopter and a 22-year old flight instructor with a student pilot from the United Kingdom were on another chopper when their two aircraft collided midair in Oregon and crashed into a farm field.
The victims included 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant, a 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, Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott said during a news conference. The town lies in the broad, flat Willamette Valley near the foothills of the Coast Range, in the heart of Oregon’s wine country. Aasbo and the student pilot were on the Robinson helicopter, while Sturdevant was on the Airbus. The Jerry Trimble school offers everything from demo flights for first-time flyers to advanced training.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday morning that a team was on its way to examine the wreckage near the airport in McMinnville, about an hour’s drive southwest of Portland.
