18-year-old pilot had flown route in PA-28 many times in the past

Three Oregon teenagers were killed when the Piper PA-28 (file photo below) they were flying crashed on the return leg of a pleasure flight. The aircraft had been missing since Thursday, until a logger reported that he had found it in a heavily wooded area southwest of McMinnville (OR). Pilot Ross Havel, 18, and passengers Kristi Ward, 17, and Travis Hofenbredl, 18, died in the accident. The aircraft was completely destroyed from fire, and the bodies were found inside the cabin.

Havel took off from McMinnville at 1700 for the short flight to Tillamook, according to statements made by NTSB investigators to the Associated Press. The teens had called their families from there to let them know they were about to head home and would arrived by 1900. However, the aircraft never made it back to McMinnville.

The pilot had called an automated weather service number and received a recording of the evening's forecast before leaving, but it appears that weather was not a factor in the crash. The aircraft was rented from Cirrus Aviation at McMinnville. According to a company spokesperson, Havel had rented from them many times in the past after having obtained his license at age 17.

FMI: www.ntsb.org, www.ci.mcminnville.or.us