Update — October 30, 2026: All three occupants died in the October 29 helicopter collision southeast of McMinnville, Oregon, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed.
The sheriff’s updated official release identifies the aircraft found in a field beside Highway 233 as a Robinson R22 and an Airbus AS350B3. Responders confirmed two occupants in the Robinson and one in the Airbus.
Who authorities have identified
The R22’s occupants were flight instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, of Texas, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom, the sheriff said. The student’s name was withheld pending notification of next of kin. The Airbus occupant was Tyler Delane Sturdevant, 38, of Newberg, Oregon.
Updated timeline and location
The latest release places the witness report to Yamhill Communications Agency at approximately 2:10 p.m. local time on October 29, near SE Amity-Dayton Highway, Highway 233, and SE Cruickshank Road.
Yamhill County deputies, McMinnville police and Oregon State Police responded. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board went to the scene and are leading the continuing investigation, according to the sheriff.
CBS News’ updated report also reports the three deaths and says the NTSB will lead the inquiry. CBS identifies one aircraft as belonging to Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight school at McMinnville Municipal Airport, citing the school’s statement.
What changed from the initial report
The initial sheriff’s release did not give occupant conditions and cited a report received at 2:14 p.m. near a different nearby junction. This article now uses the more detailed location and witness-report time in the later account.
Earlier FAA information quoted by CBS placed one person in the R22 and two in the Airbus H125. The sheriff’s updated on-scene account places two in the R22 and one in the Airbus AS350B3. We have updated the occupant distribution to reflect that later account; the cited statements do not explain the difference.
Investigation and roads
No cause is established in the cited official information. The latest sheriff’s release does not give aircraft registrations or aircraft-specific maintenance and safety histories. No cause should be inferred from aircraft type or age.
The initial response closed roads around the crash site. The latest release does not announce a reopening. Drivers should follow current official road notices and avoid the investigation area. The cited statements do not confirm a wider airport shutdown.
Archive illustration: Robinson R22 PH-JGR at Lelystad Airport, Netherlands, in May 2005. It is not either aircraft involved in the Oregon collision. Photo: AlfvanBeem / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Resized and compressed to WebP.
_at_Lelystad_airport_pic1.JPG){kind=link}