Sheriff identifies Oregon pilot, Texas instructor and U.K. student among the dead
Federal investigators are working to determine why two helicopters collided midair near McMinnville, Oregon, on Thursday, killing all three people aboard both aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday morning that its team was on its way to examine the wreckage near the McMinnville airport, about an hour’s drive southwest of Portland. The town lies in the broad, flat Willamette Valley near the foothills of the Coast Range, in the heart of Oregon’s wine country.
Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott said during a news conference that the victims included 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant, a pilot from Oregon, and 22-year-old Maddie Aasbo, a flight instructor from Texas. The third person killed was a 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom whose name has not been released, the sheriff said.
Aasbo and the U.K. student pilot were aboard the Robinson R22, while Sturdevant was aboard the Airbus AS350B3.
The smaller Robinson was on an instructional flight, and the NTSB said the Airbus was on a maintenance flight, typically done after maintenance or repair. Few details were immediately available about why the two aircraft collided.
The crash happened around 2 p.m. Thursday on a cloudy day. It left behind a crumpled red helicopter in pieces in a farm field and a green helicopter that came to rest upside down.
Jerry Trimble Helicopters and Precision, the owners of the two helicopters, said they are cooperating with authorities on the investigation while trying to help the grieving families of the victims.
The Jerry Trimble school offers everything from demo flights for first-time flyers to advanced training.
Precision is a helicopter charter and maintenance company that also helps fly drone missions for the military, according to its website.