Three Killed in Midair Helicopter Collision Near McMinnville

The helicopters collided at about 2 p.m. on October 29 near McMinnville Municipal Airport, about an hour southwest of Portland. One aircraft was a Robinson R22 carrying a flight instructor and student on an instructional flight; the other was an Airbus AS350B3 on a maintenance test flight. The crash left one helicopter scattered across a farm field and the other overturned, officials said. The student pilot’s aircraft fell about 500 feet, according to National Transportation Safety Board officials.

The dead were identified as 38-year-old Oregon pilot Tyler Sturdevant, who was aboard the Airbus; 22-year-old instructor Maddie Aasbo, from Texas; and 31-year-old British aviation student Christopher James Joughin. Aasbo and Joughin were in the Robinson. Joughin’s name was initially withheld while authorities contacted his family in Zimbabwe.

The NTSB said on October 30 that investigators were traveling to examine the wreckage and determine what led to the collision. The cause and the helicopters’ routes were not immediately clear. Officials said pilots at the airport report their movements themselves rather than relying on air traffic control.

The companies that own the helicopters, Jerry Trimble Helicopters and Precision, said they were cooperating with investigators and assisting the victims’ families.