PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon authorities on Friday identified the three victims of a small plane crash near Portland, releasing the names of the two people on board and the resident on the ground who were killed.
The victims were pilot Michael Busher, 73; flight instructor Jacqueline Whitford, 79; and Fairview resident Barbara MacDonald, 75, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said.
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The Cessna 421C crashed last Saturday morning in the city of Fairview, about 30 minutes east of downtown Portland, after reporting “controllability” issues during a maintenance test flight, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The crash occurred roughly five minutes after takeoff from the Troutdale Airport.
The plane crashed into a row of eight townhomes in Fairview, destroying three of them, Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis said. The second unit in the row was the main point of impact. MacDonald was a resident of one of the townhomes, according to the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell said her deputies found several townhomes on fire when they arrived at the crash. They went door to door to evacuate people and used garden hoses to douse the flames until firefighters arrived, she said.
The plane knocked over a pole and power lines as it went down, causing a separate brush fire in a nearby field, according to the sheriff’s office. The plane was split into multiple parts as it crashed in the residential area.
The website for the Port of Portland, which oversees general aviation and marine operations in the Portland area, describes Troutdale Airport as a “flight training and recreational airport.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash, and said it will take up to a year and a half to complete.