Three people were killed on Thursday, October 29, 2026, when two helicopters collided in midair near McMinnville Municipal Airport in Oregon, in a crash that closed a nearby highway and left investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) working through the night at a farm field in rural Yamhill County. The Oregon helicopter crash, reported shortly after 2:10 p.m. local time and placed by authorities at about 2:15 p.m., claimed the lives of a 22-year-old flight instructor from Texas, a student pilot from the United Kingdom, and a 38-year-old man from Newberg, Oregon.
Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott confirmed during a news conference on Thursday evening that all three occupants of the two aircraft had died. The sheriff's office said responding crews found the wreckage in a private farm field near Highway 233 in the rural Dayton area, east of McMinnville, a city of about 34,000 people roughly 40 miles southwest of Portland. No cause has been established, and the NTSB is leading the investigation into how two helicopters came to collide in the airspace near a small municipal airport.
According to the FAA, the collision happened at about 2:15 p.m. local time near McMinnville Municipal Airport. The Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said authorities received reports of the crash shortly after 2:10 p.m. and responded with the McMinnville Police Department, Oregon State Police, fire crews and emergency medical personnel. The helicopters came down in a private farm field near Highway 233 and Southeast Stringtown Road in rural Dayton, a small city east of McMinnville.
Early accounts of who was aboard each aircraft differed, and officials corrected the record on Thursday evening. The FAA initially reported that only the pilot was aboard the Robinson helicopter and that two people were aboard the Airbus. Sheriff Elliott later said preliminary information from responding personnel indicated the opposite distribution: two occupants in the Robinson and one in the Airbus. That corrected account is the one confirmed by the sheriff's office in its later release, which said two people were aboard the Robinson R22 and one person was aboard the Airbus AS350B3, and that all three occupants were pronounced dead.
The two occupants of the Robinson R22 were identified as Maddie Aasbo, a 22-year-old flight instructor from Texas, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom. Authorities are withholding the student's name while working through the consulate and the FBI to notify family members, a step that underlines the international dimension of the tragedy for the student's family. The sole occupant of the Airbus was identified as Tyler Sturdevant, 38, of nearby Newberg, Oregon.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said Oregon Route 233 was closed about one mile west of Dayton near the McMinnville Airport because of the crash. The sheriff's office asked residents to keep clear of the area while emergency responders worked, and transportation officials warned the closure could be extended and urged motorists to use alternate routes. The crash scene has since been turned over to the FAA and the NTSB, which will lead the investigation.
McMinnville Municipal Airport serves a largely rural part of the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland, where flight training, private flying and agricultural work share the same low-altitude airspace around small airfields. That mix is common at municipal airports across the United States: training flights often operate in the vicinity of the airport, while larger turbine helicopters transit between jobs and destinations, and the two kinds of flying can converge in the same patch of sky.
The two aircraft in Thursday's collision represent those two very different ends of helicopter flying. The Robinson R22 is a small, two-seat, piston-engine helicopter widely used around the world for flight training and private flying. The Airbus AS350B3, also known in its newer designation as the H125, is a larger single-engine turbine helicopter used for a broad range of work, from utility and charter flying to emergency and commercial operations. The sheriff's office identified the aircraft by year and model as a 1995 Robinson R22 and a 2018 Airbus AS350B3; the FAA described the second aircraft as an Airbus H125, which is the same aircraft family.
Midair collisions are among the rarest but most unforgiving kinds of aviation accident, because there is often little time or altitude in which to recover once two aircraft make contact. Investigators therefore look closely at where each aircraft was, what each pilot could see, what communications were made, and what the local traffic pattern around the airport was at the time. None of those questions has been answered publicly yet in this case, and officials have been careful not to speculate while the wreckage examination is still at an early stage.
Thursday's crash also comes in a week already marked by major transport disasters elsewhere, including the high-speed train collision in Spain that killed dozens of people. Each investigation is separate, but together they have renewed public attention on how transport accidents are investigated, how quickly reliable information reaches families, and how early reports can change as first responders replace initial estimates with confirmed facts.
What is firmly established so far is the outline of the accident, not its cause. Two helicopters collided in midair near McMinnville Municipal Airport on Thursday afternoon. Three people died. The aircraft were a Robinson R22 carrying a flight instructor and a student pilot, and an Airbus AS350B3 carrying a single occupant. The wreckage fell in a farm field near Highway 233, closing part of the road, and the scene was handed to federal investigators.
What is not yet established is why the collision happened. The NTSB said it was aware of the incident and was still gathering information in its earliest statements, and the sheriff said investigators from the FAA and NTSB were at the scene on Thursday night. Midair collision investigations typically examine the wreckage for evidence of the point of contact, review any available flight data and communications, interview witnesses, and reconstruct the flight paths of both aircraft. That work takes time, and a preliminary account usually follows the on-scene phase rather than preceding it.
The correction to the occupant count is itself a reminder of why investigators and sheriff's officials urge caution with early details. The first FAA account and the later sheriff's account placed the three victims differently between the two aircraft. The sheriff's corrected version, based on information from responding personnel at the scene, is now the confirmed distribution, and it is the version families, the flight school and the wider public should rely on until the NTSB publishes its own findings.
Sheriff Sam Elliott gave the confirmed details at a brief news conference on Thursday evening, identifying the victims and the aircraft and confirming that the investigation had been handed to federal authorities. His office's later release confirmed that all three occupants were pronounced dead and that the FAA and NTSB had responded to the scene and were leading the investigation into the circumstances of the crash.
Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a helicopter flight training school and rental service, said one of its aircraft was involved in the incident and that it is cooperating with local and federal authorities. In a statement on social media, the company said: "Jerry Trimble Helicopters is deeply saddened to confirm that one of our aircraft was involved in an aviation incident this afternoon, October 29, 2026, near McMinnville Municipal Airport. Our hearts and thoughts are with the individuals involved, their families, and everyone affected by this event."
The company did not, in that statement, identify which of the two aircraft was its own, and this article does not assign that detail beyond what the company itself confirmed. For a training community, the loss of a young instructor and a student on a training flight is felt far beyond a single school, and flight schools, instructors and students across Oregon and the wider United States will be watching for the NTSB's findings and any safety lessons that follow.
Local authorities, meanwhile, focused their public messages on the practical response: keeping the crash area clear, closing Highway 233 while responders worked, and directing drivers to alternate routes. The Oregon Department of Transportation warned that the closure could be extended, a routine but important step when wreckage, investigators and heavy equipment occupy a roadside field.
This crash matters first and most importantly because three people died, including a 22-year-old instructor at the start of her aviation career and a student pilot whose family, in another country, is still being formally notified. Every aviation accident is a human story before it is a technical one, and the withholding of the student's name is a reminder that behind each update are relatives waiting for an official knock on the door rather than a news alert.
It matters secondly because midair collisions near small airports raise questions that go beyond a single flight. Training aircraft and larger helicopters routinely share airspace around municipal fields, and the safety of that shared airspace depends on seeing and avoiding other traffic, on clear radio calls, and on disciplined traffic patterns. If the NTSB finds a systemic lesson in this collision, it could affect how training flights are conducted, how pilots are briefed, and how busy general-aviation airspace is managed.
It matters thirdly because the early confusion over the occupant count shows how quickly an incomplete picture can harden into a wrong one. In the first hours after a crash, agencies report what they have been told, and those accounts can conflict. The sheriff's correction, grounded in what responding personnel found at the scene, is the model for how that process should work: update the record plainly, explain what changed, and do not treat the first version as final.
The NTSB will lead the investigation, with the FAA also involved, and investigators were already at the scene on Thursday night. Their work will include documenting the wreckage in the farm field, establishing the flight paths of both helicopters, and gathering witness accounts and any available recorded information. No cause has been established, and officials have not put a timetable on their findings.
Families will be notified through the proper channels, including, for the British student pilot, through the consulate and the FBI, as the sheriff's office described. The names of the two identified victims have been released; the student's name is expected to follow once next of kin have been notified, though authorities have not given a time for that step.
Highway 233 is expected to reopen once investigators and recovery work are complete, and drivers in the Dayton and McMinnville area should continue to check Oregon Department of Transportation updates for the latest closure information. Further updates on the investigation, including any preliminary account from the NTSB, will be reported as they are released, and this is a developing story.
What happened near McMinnville Municipal Airport in Oregon?
Two helicopters collided in midair on Thursday afternoon, October 29, 2026, near the airport and crashed in a private farm field near Highway 233 in rural Dayton, killing all three people aboard.
Who died in the Oregon helicopter crash?
Flight instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, of Texas, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom were aboard the Robinson R22. Tyler Sturdevant, 38, of Newberg, Oregon, was the sole occupant of the Airbus AS350B3. The student's name is being withheld pending notification of family through the consulate and the FBI.
What aircraft were involved?
A 1995 Robinson R22 and a 2018 Airbus AS350B3, according to the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office. The FAA described the second aircraft as an Airbus H125, the newer designation for the same aircraft family.
Who is investigating the crash?
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with the Federal Aviation Administration also involved. Investigators were at the scene on Thursday night, and no cause has been established.
Was Highway 233 closed after the crash?
Yes. The Oregon Department of Transportation closed Oregon Route 233 about one mile west of Dayton near the McMinnville Airport, warned the closure could be extended, and urged motorists to use alternate routes.
Related coverage on US News Pulse: Spain train crash kills at least 64 in high-speed collision near Toledo, Canby, Oregon kidnapping: girl, 10, found alive after abduction, man arrested, and Cross-country storm to blast 35 states with flooding, snow and Halloween rain.
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