2 helicopters crash midair in Oregon, killing an experienced pilot, an instructor and a student
Marcus manages the day-to-day editorial workflow across all brands, coordinating coverage assignments and ensuring editorial standards are met. He previously served as city editor at the Pioneer Press and holds a degree in Political Science from Carleton College.
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An experienced pilot was on a test run in a helicopter and a 22-year-old flight instructor with a student pilot from the United Kingdom were on another chopper when their two aircraft collided midair in Oregon and crashed into a farm field, killing all three.Details about the three victims were still emerging Friday, as the National Transportation Safety Board said a team was on its way to examine the wreckage from the previous day's crash. Law enforcement photos showed a red helicopter lying crumpled in a farm field, while a green helicopter came to rest upside down.The crash happened around 2 p.m. Thursday on a cloudy day, a few miles east of the airport in McMinnville. The town, about an hour’s drive southwest of Portland, lies in the broad, flat Willamette Valley near the foothills of the Coast Range, in the heart of Oregon’s wine country.Leo Rodriguez was working on a nearby barn roof at his family’s winery when the helicopters collided.“There was an explosion mid-air,” he told KP