A British student pilot was at the controls of an aircraft in U.S. airspace when two helicopters collided mid-air over Oregon, killing all three people aboard — and the American press can't be bothered to ask a single question about how a foreign national got cleared to fly here.
The crash happened Thursday around 2:15 p.m. near McMinnville Municipal Airport, about 35 miles southwest of Portland. A 1995 Robinson R22 carrying 22-year-old flight instructor Maddie Aasbo of Texas and an unidentified 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom slammed into a 2018 Airbus H125 flown solo by 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant of Newberg, Oregon. There were no survivors. Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott confirmed the deaths at a press conference.
The Robinson belonged to Jerry Trimble Helicopters, a flight school based at the airport. The school issued a statement offering thoughts and prayers and pledged cooperation with authorities. The FAA and NTSB are now investigating.
Here's what none of the outlets covering this bothered to press: What are the rules governing foreign nationals training in U.S. airspace? The Guardian noted that local authorities are working with the British consulate and the FBI to notify the student's family. The FBI — for a crash notification. Neither CNN nor the New York Post mentioned the FBI's involvement at all. Why is a federal law enforcement agency involved in what should be a routine consular notification for an accident victim?
A witness told Fox12, reported by the New York Post, that he watched from a barn roof as the two aircraft collided and plummeted to the ground just outside the airport's perimeter. That's a straightforward mid-air collision — which makes the FBI's presence all the more curious.
The real question is oversight. Foreign nationals can train in U.S. airspace under FAA rules, but the public has no idea what vetting — if any — applies to student pilots holding foreign passports. The FAA regulates the schools. The TSA is supposed to handle security checks for non-citizen flight students. After 9/11, you'd think this would be air-tight. It isn't. A 2022 Inspector General report found TSA's alien flight student program had gaps you could fly a helicopter through.
Three people are dead. An American instructor and an American pilot paid the price. The press wants you to mourn and move on. Nobody's asking who let a British citizen into a cockpit over Oregon, what checks were run, or whether the system that's supposed to safeguard American airspace is working at all.
The NTSB will investigate the crash mechanics. Don't expect anyone to investigate the bigger picture.
