NTSB Final Report on 10/03/2023 Fatal Newberg Crash

 

Miki Barnes
March 27, 2025

On 2/26/2025 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published its Final Report on the 10/03/2023 accident wherein a Hillsboro Aero Academy (HAA) aircraft, a twin engine Piper Seminole, crashed into a home in a residential neighborhood in Newberg, Oregon.

As stated in NTSB report Docket Number 4, "The airplane impacted a residential house in a nose down attitude. The front of the airplane was smashed inward to the front seats. The airplane was destroyed. The residential home was smashed through the roof on the back side damaging roughly a quarter of the total roof area, several rooms, and an exterior wall."

There were multiple people in the home at the time of the crash who managed to vacate the premises without injury.

Two young men perished in the crash. A third person on board sustained serious injuries. According to the report, 22 year old Michele Cavallotti, an Italian citizen and Hillsboro Aero Academy flight instructor, had flown a total of 198 hours at the time of the accident. An NTSB Operator Interview (10/05/2023) with Hillsboro Aero Academy included in Docket Number 7, however, suggests that the flight school was under the impression he had accrued far more flight hours,

"Mr. Michele Cavallotti started as a flight instructor with this flight school in March of 2023 and had previously been a student with them. He completed his multi engine land (MEL), Part 141 checkout on June 5, 2023 and then began instructing in multi engine airplanes. To the staff's knowledge, he had accumulated a total of 357.4 hours of total flight experience, and 114.4 hours were in a multi engine airplane...He had instructed at least three multi engine students."

The 20 year old student pilot, Barrett Bevacqua, had accrued a total of 197 flight hours. Per the report,

"...the pilot receiving instruction had recently obtained a commercial pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating and the accident flight was his first flight in his multi-engine training program. They added that it is common for the first multi-engine training flight to include slow flight, power-off stalls, power-on stalls, accelerated stalls, steep turns, and a Vmc demonstration...Vmc is the speed below which aircraft directional control cannot be maintained if the critical engine fails. During a Vmc demonstration, power is reduced on the critical engine (left) and the airplane is recovered before the loss of directional control or a stall."

The passenger, 20 year old Emily Hurd, also a flight student, was onboard to observe the training session. According to an 11/10/2024 Newberg Graphic article by Gary Allen she sustained multiple serious injuries,

"a fractured back, lung trauma and fractures to her pelvis, sternum and ribs, as well as a minor brain bruise. The back injury required surgery to insert pins and rods in order to stabilize the area and lessen pressure. She also sustained a broken nose and hand."

As noted in the article, she is, fortunately, making steady progress in her recovery. Her witness statements on the accident are included in the NTSB report. Additional detail can be found in Docket Numbers 5 and 6.

The NTSB identified the Probable Cause as follows: "The pilot receiving instruction's failure to maintain control of the airplane and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight, which resulted in a stall/spin from which they were unable to recover."

Family of Student Pilot Files Lawsuit

In January of 2025 the family of Barrett Bavacqua filed a lawsuit seeking $27 million in damages from Alaska Airlines and Horizon, as well as the Hillsboro and Ascend academies. Ascend is an an Alaska/Horizon program that partners with Hillsboro Aero Academy to provide the flight training. According to HAA's website,

"Ascend Pilot Academy is our exclusive partnership with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. It offers aspiring pilots a direct path to a career with Alaska, and the financial help to get there: Enrolled cadet pilots receive a stipend of up to $27,000."

To access an Oregonian article by Zane Starling on this topic, see Family of Student Pilot Who Died in Plane Crash Seeks $27M from Hillsboro Flight School, Alaska Airlines.

To access a 3/03/2025 Oregonian article by Fedor Zarkhin on the NTSB report, see Fatal Newberg Plane Crash in 2023 Caused by Failed Training Maneuver, Sending Craft into Spin.