Two helicopters collided in mid-air near McMinnville Municipal Airport in north-west Oregon on Thursday afternoon, killing all three people aboard the two aircraft.

Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott named the dead at a news conference as Texas flight instructor Maddie Aasbo, 22, Oregon pilot Tyler Sturdevant, 38, and a student pilot from the United Kingdom who was not identified, CNN reported.

Aasbo was flying with the student pilot in one helicopter. Sturdevant was the sole occupant of the other.

The scene

The aircraft came down in a private farm field near the airport, about 40 miles south-west of Portland. One, a red helicopter, was left crumpled in pieces; the second, green, came to rest upside down. Debris was scattered across the field and a nearby highway was closed.

The collision happened at around 2.15 p.m. local time. The sheriff’s office asked the public to stay away from the area and for “patience as we respond to this critical incident.”

What was flying

The National Transportation Safety Board said the two aircraft were a Robinson R-22, which was on an instructional flight, and an Airbus AS350, which was on a maintenance flight. The NTSB is leading the investigation and the Federal Aviation Administration is also examining the crash. Federal investigators were at the scene on Thursday night.

Jerry Trimble Helicopters confirmed one of its aircraft was involved. “Our hearts and thoughts are with the individuals involved, their families, and everyone affected by this event,” the company said, adding that it is cooperating with authorities.

A note on two separate crashes

Hiru News reported the collision on Friday morning Colombo time, placing it in Oregon on Thursday afternoon and attributing the account to foreign media.

This is not the Italian military helicopter crash in Bosnia that killed four and injured 11, which this desk reported separately. Two unrelated helicopter accidents were filed within hours of each other. The Oregon crash involved two civilian aircraft colliding in flight; the Bosnia crash involved a single military aircraft coming down.

Not reported

No filing gives a cause. Neither CNN nor the NTSB has said whether the two aircraft were in radio contact, whether either pilot had been warned, or how close the collision was to the airport’s traffic pattern. The student pilot has not been named, and no filing says whether next of kin have been notified in the United Kingdom.

Nothing is reported on how long the NTSB investigation is expected to take or when a preliminary report is due.