Three Killed as Two Helicopters Collide Near McMinnville Airport in Oregon

Two helicopters collided in midair near McMinnville Municipal Airport in Oregon at about 2:15 p.m. local time on Thursday, October 29, 2026, the FAA said. All three people aboard were killed, Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott said later that day.

One was a Robinson R22 with only its pilot aboard. The other carried two people, and the FAA and the NTSB describe it differently: the FAA calls it an Airbus H125, while the NTSB lists it as an Airbus Helicopters AS350B2.

What Happened Southeast of McMinnville

The Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office said the crash was reported near Southeast Highway 154, also known as Lafayette Highway, and Southeast Stringtown Road, southeast of McMinnville. Both helicopters came down in a private field, KATU reported.

A witness standing on the roof of a nearby barn told FOX 12 (KPTV) that he saw the two helicopters hit each other and then fall to the ground just outside the airport perimeter. He called 911 right away.

Speaking at a news briefing, Elliott said a flight instructor from Texas and a student pilot from the United Kingdom were aboard one helicopter. The other was flown by a man from Newberg, Oregon.

Read together with the FAA’s occupant count, that places the instructor and student in the Airbus and the Newberg pilot alone in the R22. The sheriff’s office had not released the victims’ names at the time of writing.

Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight training company, said on social media that one of its aircraft was involved, KPTV reported. Officials have not said which helicopter it operated, and neither aircraft’s registration had been made public at the time of writing.

The Oregon Department of Transportation closed Highway 233 about a mile west of Dayton because of the crash. ODOT’s TripCheck showed both lanes shut, and KPTV reported the closure was likely to last several hours.

Before the deaths were confirmed, the sheriff’s office called the crash a “critical incident” and asked people to keep clear of the area, KOIN reported.

An Airport Without a Control Tower

McMinnville Municipal sits about 3 miles southeast of the city and has no control tower, according to FAA airport data published by AirNav. Pilots coordinate with each other on a shared common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) instead of taking instructions from a controller.

At fields like this, the FAA’s guidance is blunt. Its advisory circular on non-towered airport operations says the pilot in command’s primary responsibility is to see and avoid other aircraft, and that no traffic pattern procedure changes that duty.

Helicopters add a layer of complexity. The same FAA guidance tells helicopter pilots to avoid the flow of fixed-wing traffic, and says they may fly a tighter pattern at about 500 feet above the ground, closer to the runway than airplanes.

Helicopter pilots also practice power-off landings called autorotations. The FAA notes these involve a very steep approach and a descent rate of 1,500 to 2,000 feet per minute, a profile very different from an airplane’s approach.

None of this explains what happened on Thursday. Investigators have not said what either helicopter was doing, at what altitude they met, or whether the pilots were talking on the radio.

The two types are very different machines. The R22 is a small piston-engine helicopter that Robinson markets with an instructor-friendly cyclic, while the AS350 belongs to Airbus’s single-engine turbine Ecureuil family, of which Airbus says more than 7,200 have been delivered.

What Happens Next

The NTSB will lead the investigation, with the FAA taking part. The board confirmed late Thursday afternoon that it is investigating the collision.

A preliminary report, which lists facts but no cause, usually comes first. After the Carlisle airport collision in Pennsylvania in August, another midair at a non-towered field, that report arrived about two weeks later.

A probable cause will take much longer. The NTSB says it generally tries to finish an investigation within 12 to 24 months, depending on its complexity.