Two helicopters carrying a total of three people collided midair near an Oregon airport Thursday afternoon, crashing in a field and prompting authorities to close a nearby highway.
The agency did not provide information about possible injuries or fatalities, leaving the conditions of the three people aboard the aircraft unclear.
The collision occurred in a field off Oregon Route 233, about one mile west of Dayton, according to Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson Mindy McCartt.
McCartt told Fox News Digital that the highway and some nearby county roads were closed at the request of emergency responders. She said there was no estimated reopening time.
McMinnville Airport Manager John Paskell told Fox News Digital that the collision occurred off airport property and did not disrupt airport operations. The airport remained open without closures or restrictions.
Paskell said he understood that both helicopters were based at the airport but could not confirm what activities they were conducting or how the collision occurred.
The FAA said it would investigate the collision alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which will lead the investigation and provide further updates.
By Christmas, the winning voice will echo through Boston Logan International in recorded greetings and announcements that millions of travelers will hear.
A hidden problem is surfacing regarding certain pilots' behavior.
More than three in four pilots reported having at least one "microsleep" while operating an aircraft in recent weeks, according to a report by aviation consultancy Baines Simmons based on responses from 7,200 pilots across 32 European countries.
The findings were published by the European Cockpit Association (ECA), which represents over 44,000 pilots across Europe, according to a press release.
The concerns extend beyond brief episodes of sleep in the cockpit. Nearly 39% of pilots said they usually or always did not get enough rest to keep fatigue from building up, according to the report.
The findings also raised questions about whether pilots feel comfortable reporting when they are too tired to fly.
Only 37.2% said they typically report when they are too fatigued to fly, while 24.2% said they do not report it and fly anyway, according to the findings.
"When pilots fear career consequences, fatigue goes unreported, and the risk returns to the cockpit," Capt. Coen George, an ECA board director, said in the press release.
He warned that the reluctance to speak up could leave airlines unaware of how widespread fatigue is among their crews.
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented stricter pilot rest and duty requirements in 2012 to address fatigue and improve safety, the agency said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Under the rules, pilots must receive at least 10 consecutive hours of rest before a flight duty period, including an opportunity for eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. Pilots who feel fatigued or unfit to fly must report it and be removed from duty by the airline, according to the FAA.
Pilot fatigue can be particularly challenging when crews work overnight or travel across multiple time zones.
Matthew "Whiz" Buckley, a former U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot who later flew for American Airlines and FedEx, previously told Fox News Digital that having scheduled time off does not necessarily mean a pilot gets enough sleep.
"It's just unnatural to sleep during off-hours," Buckley said.
Pilots may arrive at a hotel early in the morning and then have to sleep during the day, while long-haul flights can further disrupt normal sleep patterns, Buckley said.
"Where it really takes a toll on the body for pilots is east-west," he said. "When you're crossing multiple time zones, [that's] when your body can really get messed up."
Buckley also emphasized that pilots ultimately have to assess whether they're rested enough to safely operate an aircraft.
"At the end of the day ... you know who determines if a pilot is fit to fly? You," Buckley said.
Having nearly "77% of respondents [in the new survey] say that they reported micro-sleeping or dozing off while at work is definitely an alarming number, and the industry does need to take note of this," Bobby Laurie, a Pennsylvania-based travel expert and former flight attendant, told Fox News Digital.
"But it's not necessarily a warning sign that the flight that you've been on had a pilot or both pilots asleep."
He said that while there are things the industry can do to "rectify this problem," travelers, too, should take note of a few things.
"If you find yourself at the airport, and the departure board is saying you're delayed due to crew rest … you need to realize that the delay is posted for safety reasons. You might not have gotten to your destination in one piece if those crew members did not get the rest they needed," he said.
Fox News Digital previously reported that rest requirements for flight attendants have faced scrutiny in the U.S.
The FAA recently proposed a nationwide rule that would prevent state and local governments from setting separate meal and rest-break requirements for flight attendants and pilots.
Major flight attendant unions opposed the proposal, arguing that some crew members already work for hours without enough opportunities to eat, drink or use the restroom.
Fox News Digital reached out to Baines Simmons and Flight Safety Foundation for comment.
Temporary restrictions on aircraft arrivals and departures were imposed at 27 Russian airports, Deutsche Welle reported on 16 October, citing its own calculations based on reports from Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines on 1 September that “Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe.” Overnight, most of the airspace over European Russia was closed.
By morning, more than 200 flights had been canceled or delayed at Moscow airports, Deutsche Welle reported, citing figures compiled by a Russian Telegram channel.
Тим часом у російських аеропортах – справжній апокаліпсис через нальоти дронів останніми днями.
Про це ниють росЗМІ. Було відмінено десятки рейсів, у терміналах – дуже багато людей. Пасажири скаржаться на задуху, дикі черги до туалетів та повну невідомість. pic.twitter.com/ZlXxY5c2mq
The list included airports in the capital. All four Moscow airports temporarily suspended arrivals and departures, the Russian outlet Astra reported on 16 October. Russian authorities said they had shot down dozens of drones, while flights were delayed and diverted to alternate airfields, according to the report.
Massive drone attack on Russia: 644 UAVs in one night, 94 shot down near Moscow
The temporary airport shutdowns were likely a consequence of a massive drone attack on Russia. From 8:00 p.m. on 15 October to 8:00 a.m. on 16 October, Russian air defenses allegedly intercepted and destroyed 644 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles across 26 Russian regions, occupied Crimea, and the Black Sea, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.
According to the list of regions published by the Russian Defense Ministry, the drone attacks covered a vast area of Russia, from regions bordering Ukraine to the Moscow region, the Volga region, the country’s northwest and southern regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
Russian air defenses shot down a total of 94 drones approaching Moscow over the evening of 15 October and overnight, according to calculations by the Russian outlet RBC Radio, citing statements by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
In the Kaluga region, air defenses destroyed 27 drones over the evening and night, the regional governor reported. At 9:27 a.m., he updated the figures, saying another 48 UAVs had been shot down overnight, bringing the total to 75. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or infrastructure damage.
In the Tula region, air defenses allegedly destroyed a total of 32 Ukrainian drones. There were no casualties, according to regional Governor Dmitry Milyaev in his Telegram channel.
In the Vladimir region in western Russia, authorities repelled drone attacks overnight. In the city of Vladimir, a drone attempted to attack a heating infrastructure facility, but the attack was stopped, Vladimir Region Governor Alexander Avdeyev reported. Minor damage was reported, but there was no information about casualties.
Ukraine has not yet commented on its involvement in the attacks.
The practical consequences of canceled Russian flights
Passengers on flight SU6312 from Kaliningrad to Moscow were unable to land in Moscow because of airspace closure, so the aircraft was diverted to Nizhny Novgorod, Terravia reported. After landing, passengers remained on board for about two hours before being allowed to disembark at 3:30 a.m. Instead of continuing their journey to Moscow by air, they were supposed to be transported by bus, with the trip expected to take about seven hours, the outlet reported.
A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 of the IrAero airline. Illustrative photo: TASS
Passengers were not provided with food or drinks, and one woman could not find a seat on the bus, so she purchased a ticket for an early-morning train herself.
Since the beginning of the year, all four Moscow airports have been completely shut down simultaneously at least 19 times, the Russian outlet Agentstvo reported. During the first 14 days of October, the restrictions lasted 101 hours and 38 minutes, compared with 46 hours and 33 minutes in September, according to the report.
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Тим часом у російських аеропортах – справжній апокаліпсис через нальоти дронів останніми днями.
