Three Dead in Midair Helicopter Collision Near Oregon Airport

Three people died when a Robinson R22 training helicopter and an Airbus AS350B3 collided in flight near McMinnville Municipal Airport (MMV) in Oregon on October 29, 2026. Emergency crews reached the crash site, a farm field southeast of McMinnville and southwest of Portland, at about 2:10 p.m. local time.

The Yamhill County Sheriff's Office confirmed all three occupants died at the scene. Two people were aboard the Robinson and one was flying the Airbus.

Who was flying?

The Robinson R22 was on an instructional flight. Its occupants were a 22-year-old flight instructor from Texas and a 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom, according to investigators.

The Airbus AS350B3 carried a single pilot, aged 38, on a check flight conducted after maintenance. NTSB Air Safety Investigator Grant Mills provided those details during a briefing on October 30.

The R22 belonged to Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight school based at MMV. "Our hearts and thoughts are with the individuals involved, their families, and everyone affected by this event," the school said in a statement.

The AS350 pilot flew for Precision. The company described him as a senior pilot and mentor, and said it is supporting the victims' families and cooperating with the investigation.

How did the collision occur?

Witnesses placed both helicopters at roughly 500 feet above the ground when they collided, about one mile east of the airport, Mills said. The wreckage fell into the farm field southeast of McMinnville.

McMinnville Municipal Airport has no control tower. Pilots operating at the uncontrolled field coordinate their positions and intentions on a shared radio frequency, a procedure that places full responsibility for visual separation on the pilots themselves.

What does this change for flight training at uncontrolled fields? The NTSB investigation will determine that, but the accident renews scrutiny of traffic coordination procedures where no tower controller monitors converging aircraft — particularly when training flights and maintenance check flights share the same traffic pattern.

What happens next?

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the collision. The agency expects to issue a preliminary report in about 30 days, which will establish the factual record: aircraft tracks, radio transmissions, witness accounts and any contributing procedural factors.

A final report with a probable-cause determination typically follows within one to two years. The FAA had not commented publicly on the accident record beyond the NTSB's initial briefing as of the disclosure.

The crash is the latest fatal midair collision involving helicopter operations at an uncontrolled airport, a category of accident in which see-and-avoid (the practice of pilots visually scanning for conflicting traffic) remains the primary defense against impact.