Three people have been killed after two United States helicopters collided mid-air near a small airport in Oregon, triggering a crash that also forced the closure of a nearby highway.
The accident occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, October 29, 2026, near McMinnville Municipal Airport in northwest Oregon, prompting emergency responders and investigators to rush to the scene.
Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott identified the victims as Texas flight instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, Oregon pilot Tyler Sturdevant, 38, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom.
According to the sheriff, Aasbo was travelling in one of the helicopters alongside the student pilot, while Sturdevant was the only occupant of the second aircraft.
Both helicopters crashed into a private farmland following the collision. Images from the scene showed a red helicopter reduced to wreckage, while the second, green aircraft was found overturned.
McMinnville, where the incident occurred, is located approximately 40 miles southwest of Portland.
The Oregon Department of Transportation announced that a one-mile section of nearby Highway 233 had been shut down following the crash, although no estimated reopening time was provided.
A witness, Leo Rodriguez, who watched the incident from his family’s vineyard, said he immediately contacted emergency services after seeing the helicopters collide.
Recounting what happened to CNN affiliate KPTV, he said: “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.”
He added: “It took me a while, for my brain to figure out what I was seeing. You don’t see this every day. They twisted and fell to the ground.”
Following the incident, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office urged members of the public to stay away from the crash location, asking for “patience as we respond to this critical incident.”
Investigators were subsequently seen examining the wreckage and collecting evidence scattered across the field as efforts continued to establish the circumstances surrounding the fatal collision.
