NEWBERG, Ore. -- Campers in Champoeg State Park were nearly hit by debris after two small planes collided in mid-air over Newberg Tuesday.
Ray Sitton and his wife, Diane were among others in the busy campground when they said plane parts started raining down.
Diane said the loud noise startled her, she looked up to see the aftermath of the collision.
“It [the single-engine plane] just went straight down and debris started flying,” she recalled.
She said parts of the plane smashed to the ground dangerously close to her and Ray. One piece even hit their pickup truck.
“It hit there and then it just kind of rolled off,” she explained.
Campers said debris was scattered everywhere; in trees, in the campground and a nearby field.
About 50 people were camping in the area and despite the falling debris, no one was hurt.
”I just saw debris hitting the trees and breaking off branches and just kind of peppering right on through the park,” camper Jim Hemans said.
The fuselage of the single-engine Beech-35 aircraft crashed in the woods and the pilot died.
The pilot of the twin-engine Piper aircraft managed to make an emergency landing and survived, along with his one passenger.
The pilot called 9-1-1 himself after the accident.
“I don’t even know what happened ma’am,” he told the 9-1-1 dispatcher. “We had a mid-air collision with something. I don’t know if it was a bird, it was a [pause] I don’t know if we got another airplane ma’am.”
The investigation into the collision could take several months but a preliminary report will be released by the end of the week, officials said.
Steven Watson, a 58-year-old dad and retired Oregon State Trooper, died in the crash.
The names of the two survivors in the other plane have not been released.
