Student Pilot and Flight Instructor Die in Helicopter Crash Near the Chehalem Airpark

July 2, 2015

Two people, a flight instructor and a student pilot, died on July 2, 2015, when the helicopter they were piloting crashed in a field during a "routine night training flight." The aircraft was registered to Precision Aviation, a flight training school based at the Chehalem Airpark in Newberg, Oregon.

Chehalem Airpark is located approximately 14 miles southwest of the Hillsboro Airport and within a few miles of Stark's Twin Oaks Airpark. It is also in close proximity to the McMinnville Airport and Sportsman Airpark. All are flight training airports with a significant accident history, some fatal. A number of the accidents involve student pilot instructional flights.

Click on the following link for an article on the Newberg helicopter accident by Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Stuart Tomlinson: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/07/helicopter_student_pilot_instr.html.

See http://koin.com/2015/07/02/2-killed-in-newberg-ore-helicopter-crash/ for a KOIN TV report.

See http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/02/oregon-helicopter-crash/29606261/ for a USA Today report.

Chehalem Airpark Accident History

According to the Aviation Accident Database and Synopsis section of the National Transportation Safety Board, there have been a number of other accidents associated with aircraft arriving and landing at the Chehalem Airpark including but not limited to those bulleted below.

• On 11/21/07 a student pilot was seriously injured during a Precision Helicopter training flight. The aircraft reportedly lost power 7-8 miles from the airport.
• During a 6/26/03 flight, the pilot of an amateur built experimental aircraft was fatally injured during a plane crash near the Chehalem Airpark. The pilot had been performing a number of high speed taxi maneuvers just prior to the accident.
• On 8/19/02 an aircraft sustained damage when it veered off the runway during a landing at the Chehalem Airpark. In this case neither the pilot or flight instructor on board sustained injuries. The flight originated from Stark's Twin Oaks Airpark.
• On 9/23/00 during final approach at the Chehalem Airpark, a flight instructor and student pilot were seriously injured when the aircraft they were piloting collided with a dump truck traveling on a county road.
• On 7/19/97 the passenger of a helicopter operated by Precision Helicopters sustained minor injuries during a forced landing.