Two helicopters collided and crashed into a farm field Thursday near a small airport southwest of Portland, Oregon, killing all three people on board and forcing the closure of a key highway, authorities said.
The crash killed 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant, a pilot from Oregon, 22-year-old Maddie Aasbo, a flight instructor from Texas, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom, whose name has not been released, Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott said during a news conference. Aasbo and the U.K. student pilot were on one aircraft, while Sturdevant was on the other, according to the sheriff's office.
Emergency crews responded around 2:15 p.m. following reports of a crash a few miles east of the McMinnville Airport, according to the sheriff’s office. By Thursday evening, officials were still working on their recovery efforts.
Photos posted by the sheriff's department show a green helicopter smashed upside down in a field, while a red helicopter lies crumpled and in pieces.
One of the aircraft came from the aviation school Jerry Trimble Helicopters, which is located at the airport.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with the individuals involved, their families, and everyone affected by this event,” the school said in a statement posted on social media.
The school, which offers everything from demo flights for first-time flyers to advanced training, said it is cooperating with authorities to secure the site and determine the cause of the collision.
Last year, the school posted a photo of Aasbo standing with another person in front of a helicopter and described her as a new private pilot going into instrument training.
“These two are on to great things!” the post said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the collision was between a Robinson R22, a two-seat aircraft, and an Airbus H125, which can carry up to six passengers depending on the configuration.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said Highway 233 is closed 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) west of Dayton because of the crash. There was no estimate for reopening.
Local roads were also closed. The sheriff's office urged the public to stay clear of the area.
McMinnville, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Portland, is home to about 34,000 people.
The small airport situated on 650 acres (263 hectares) has two paved runways and remained open Thursday, according to its website. It’s partially bordered by homes and near the North American Aerospace Museum.
This photo released by the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office shows a damaged helicopter after two helicopters collided and crashed into a farm field in Yamhill County, Ore. Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (Yamhill County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This photo released by the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office shows a damaged helicopter after two helicopters collided and crashed into a farm field in Yamhill County, Ore., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (Yamhill County Sheriff's Office via AP)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will resign nine months before the end of her term, a move that opens the way for European leaders to choose a successor ahead of France's presidential election next year.
Lagarde, 70, will leave Feb. 7, the ECB said Thursday. Her eight-year term was to end Oct. 31, 2027.
The resignation opens the way for complex political horse trading over her successor and replacements for two other top officials who are leaving next year. The ECB president leads the bank's governing council, which sets interest rates for the 21 countries that use the euro currency, affecting borrowing costs for everything from house purchases to new factories and serving as the European Union's chief crisis fighter in times of economic and financial turbulence.
“It has been a great pride and a huge privilege to serve this institution,” Lagarde said in a video message posted on X. “I think that I leave this institution with a sense of good work done and an ECB that is fit for the future.”
Asked about her reasons at a news conference following the bank's decision to leave rates unchanged, she said that she wanted to be freed from the obligation of political neutrality that comes with being ECB head.
“I want to, have the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, and the freedom to engage on matters that are not monetary policy matters,” she said. “I don’t think that I can be comfortable in that neutrality at the present time." She didn't elaborate.
The announcement was expected following speculation that Lagarde would leave early to enable EU leaders to choose a successor while pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron is still in office. That would guard against the possibility that right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen might win the election and influence the choice.
“That she leaves early is no surprise and does not change the outlook for ECB policies,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.
European Council President Antonio Costa said that the selection process “will be initiated today and will proceed without delay.”
The term of another top ECB official — chief economist Philip Lane — is to end May 31, while another member of the ECB's executive board, Isabel Schnabel, is resigning Jan. 3 to move to the International Monetary Fund. European leaders are expected to work out a package deal to apportion the three vacancies among member countries in a complex round of political bargaining.
EU leaders would likely seek to reach agreement on all three posts before a summit meeting on Dec. 17-18, Schmieding said.
He said that leading candidates for Lagarde's job appeared to be former Netherlands central bank head Klaas Knot and Spain’s Pablo Hernandez de Cos, the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements. The BIS is an international organization of central banks.
“The European Union is trying to guard itself at least somewhat against the risk that right-wing Marine Le Pen may win the French presidential election in April-May 2027,” Schmieding wrote in an email. “Lagarde’s successor will still be appointed while the staunchly pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron still resides in the Elysee Palace.”
Lagarde, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was appointed in 2019 to succeed Mario Draghi. A key decision during her tenure came in 2020, when the bank deployed 1.35 trillion euros ($1.5 trillion) in emergency stimulus in the form of bond purchases to keep the COVID-19 pandemic from drying up credit for the economy.
The bank's ability to act swiftly — in contrast to the often drawn-out negotiations among the 27 European Union national governments — has given it a leading role in combating Europe-wide crises such as the pandemic and the peak period of the eurozone's debt crisis in 2010-2012. Most notably, Draghi's promise in 2012 to “do whatever it takes to preserve the euro” calmed bond market turmoil that raised fears the eurozone would break up.
Lagarde’s announcement overshadowed the bank’s decision Thursday to leave its interest rate benchmark unchanged at 2.5% despite annual inflation of 3.8% fed by high oil prices caused by the US-Iran war. High rates restrain inflation, which is above the bank’s target of 2%. However, rising bond market rates are already tightening credit independent of the ECB, in effect doing the central bank’s job for it, analysts say.
This story has been corrected to show Christine Lagarde succeeded Mario Draghi in 2019, not 2011.
Fog drifts by the European Central Bank, right, on the occasion of the announcement of the resignation of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Fog drifts by the European Central Bank on the occasion of the announcement of the resignation of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Fog drifts by the European Central Bank, right, on the occasion of the announcement of the resignation of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
FILE - President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde addresses the media during a press conference after an ECB's governing council meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
