Small plane spirals out of sky and crashes into Oregon home, killing two

By CLAIRE RUSH
Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A small plane spiraled out of the sky and crashed into an Oregon home on Tuesday, killing two of its three passengers, officials said.

Dramatic video taken Tuesday evening showed the plane rapidly descending straight down toward the ground in the small city of Newberg, about 25 miles southwest of Portland. The aircraft crashed through the roof of a home with its wreckage strewn partially inside the house and in the backyard, officials said.

Two of the plane’s passengers died at the scene, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue said in a news release. The third was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Portland with serious injuries.

Multiple people were inside the home when the crash occurred, but they were able to evacuate safely, the release said. Nobody on the ground was injured.

Micah Schauer, the 22-year-old Newberg resident who took the video of the plane spiraling downward, said he was leaving his home when he glimpsed what at first looked like a piece of cardboard falling from the sky.

“I didn’t think it was a real plane at all at first,” Schauer said. It wasn’t until about halfway through the 10-second video that the realization dawned on him, he said.

In disbelief, he sent the video to his girlfriend and family.

“I sent a mass text, like, ‘Is that real? Did this happen?’ ” Schauer said. “They were shocked.”

Schauer then went to the site of the crash, where a chaotic scene was unfolding.

“It’s such a small town, everybody wanted to go see it,” he said. “Life Flight ended up landing right next to me. … It was wild. I’ve never seen anything quite like that, ever.”

Search and rescue crews were sent to inspect the structural stability of the home. Neither the home nor the aircraft caught fire, officials said. The Red Cross is assisting the family that was displaced.

The Newberg-Dundee Police Department is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the deaths and the cause of the crash, officials said.