NEWBERG, Ore. — Officials released more details Wednesday about the circumstances of a small plane that crashed into a Newberg home the evening prior, identifying all three young occupants of the plane. Two of them died in the crash, while a third was airlifted to the hospital with critical injuries.
According to a statement from the Newberg-Dundee Police Department, the occupants were 20-year-old Barrett Bevacqua, 22-year-old Michele Cavallotti and 20-year-old Emily Hurd, all three of whom lived in Hilllsboro. Cavallotti was an instructor with the Hillsboro Aero Academy, while Bevacqua and Hurd were both student pilots.
Cavallotti and Bevacqua were found dead inside of the plane wreckage. Firefighters managed to extricate Hurd from the plane and get her to a Life Flight helicopter. She remained hospitalized in critical condition as of Wednesday's release. Her mother, who lives in Spokane, shared a Facebook post Wednesday morning saying Hurd was out of surgery and her spinal cord is intact.
Hillsboro Aero Academy confirmed its aircraft was on a training flight when it crashed.
"This is a profoundly challenging time for our community as we process this event and support each other in our grief. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are impacted, especially the families and loved ones of those involved," said a statement from the academy on Wednesday afternoon. They declined to comment further as an investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board is underway.
Bevacqua was a former baseball player at Grant High School in Portland. The team posted about his passing on Wednesday afternoon.
"We are deeply saddened by the news we received this morning," Grants Generals Baseball said in its post. "Barrett Bevacqua, former player in our program has tragically passed. He was an amazing teammate, (whose) kind soul and infectious smile will be missed."
Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego also posted about Bevacqua, indicating that he was a former player on the football team.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Barrett Bevacqua," the team said. "Barrett had a huge heart, was a tremendous teammate, and cared more for others than himself. He will be missed dearly."
A May post from the Hillsboro Aero Academy said that Bevacqua joined the Ascend Pilot Academy in March and completed his first solo flight within four weeks. Ascend represents a partnership between the Hillsboro Aero Academy and Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines.
"We're devastated to hear about Barrett's passing, and we wish Emily a swift recovery," Alaska said in response to a request for comment, confirming that they were both students of the program.
Officials also indicated that Cavallotti, the flight instructor, was an Italian national.
Police said they were working with the Yamhill County Medical Examiner and the county district attorney's office to determine exact causes of death, while the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have taken over the investigation into the crash itself.
Crash investigation underway
NTSB investigator Eric Gutierrez delivered an initial briefing to the press on Wednesday afternoon. He confirmed that the plane was a Piper PA-44 Seminole, a small twin-engine plane, on an instructional flight. Both Bevacqua and Hurd were pilot-rated, he said, and the former was seeking multi-engine certification — something Hurd may have been interested in pursuing as well. She was seated in the back of the plane when it crashed.
Investigators are still in the "fact-finding" phase, and they'll be looking at whether mechanical issues, weather conditions or anything else contributed to the crash. Gutierrez acknowledged that pilots sometimes have to practice intentional stalls in order to prepare for emergency situations, but he didn't have any information on whether that was the case here.
Gutierrez also could not comment on whether there had been any distress calls from the plane prior to the crash, saying that the NTSB would be looking into that information. They'll also be working with the FAA to gather official flight tracking information.
The NTSB will be extracting all pieces of the plane and taking them to an indoor facility for examination beginning Wednesday afternoon, Gutierrez said. It could take between 18 and 24 months before the agency publishes its final report on the crash.
Gutierrez said that anyone who witnessed the lead-up to the crash or shot video should send that information to witness@NTSB.gov.
Police and fire officials also elaborated on their response to the crash, saying that it took them some time to determine where the plane had landed.
Around 6:47 p.m. Tuesday, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue responded to multiple reports of a small plane spiraling towards the ground and crashing. Both police and fire officials said that those initial calls didn't give them an accurate picture of where the plane landed.
They eventually found where it had crashed into a home on North Cedar Street in Newberg after a neighbor called. Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue said that the plane crashed through the roof of the home and came to a rest partially inside the home and in part of the backyard.
Fire officials said "there were no indications of anyone inside the home" when first responders arrived. However, interviews with the homeowners later revealed that there were multiple people inside when the plane crashed, according to TVF&R. Everyone was able to evacuate safely.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge.
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