Update: December 6, 2006

Washington County Aviation Accidents

Hillsboro's Aviation Accidents Far Greater Than Portland's

According to the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) website, since 1986 Portland has logged 29 aviation accidents with 3 fatalities as well as 1 serious and 4 minor injuries. Portland's population in 2005, at 533,427, was more than 6.5 times that of Hillsboro's. In addition the largest commercial airport in the state, Portland International Airport (PDX), is located within Portland's boundaries.

Yet during this same timeframe the City of Hillsboro, where the Port of Portland owned and operated Hillsboro Airport is located, has been the site of 50 aviation accidents including 7 fatalities, 4 serious injuries and 12 minor ones. It is noteworthy that the aviation fatality rate in Hillsboro is more than 2.5 times that of Portland's, even though Hillsboro Airport is classified as a general aviation reliever airport to PDX rather than a primary facility. In addition Hillsboro had four times more serious injuries and triple the minor injury count of Portland. More than one fifth of the accidents involved helicopters.

General Aviation Pilots More Accident Prone than Commercial Pilots

Hillsboro's alarmingly high accident and injury rate illustrates the elevated risks and dangers of general aviation activity. Portland, by contrast, where the majority of pilots flying in and out of PDX are commercial pilots with thousands of hours of flying experience, had significantly fewer accidents. Twelve of the 29 accidents and all of the fatalities that did occur in Portland were general aviation flights. Three involved helicopters, two of which had departed from Hillsboro Airport. One of these, an instructional flight, was operated by Hillsboro Helicopters, the predecessor to Hillsboro Aviation.

At least 39 of the 50 accidents, more than 75%, were attributed to pilot error or failure. Inadequate planning, lack of experience, fuel starvation, distraction, and poor judgment were among the probable causes or contributing factors listed.

Student Pilots Involved in Nearly Half of Hillsboro's Aviation Accidents

In recent years Hillsboro Airport has grown into one of the biggest flight training sites in the country. What this means for the average citizen is that on any given day there may be hundreds of overflights piloted by inexperienced and minimally trained students practicing their maneuvers over rural and urban residents throughout the area. A review of the NTSB website revealed that 23 of the total number of Hillsboro's accidents, nearly half, involved either student pilots or practice activities being performed by already licensed private pilots. Ten of the accidents, 20% of the total, occurred with aircraft, both fixed wing and helicopters, which were either registered to or operated by Hillsboro Airport tenant, Hillsboro Aviation or its predecessor Hillsboro Helicopters. Two of the aircraft were registered to Eagle Flight, another flight training outfit located at Hillsboro Airport.

When reporting on several of the accidents the NTSB expressly cited the student pilots' lack of experience as a probable cause factor--for instance, a 6/14/02 Hillsboro Airport crash involved a student with only 16 hours of actual flying time who was on his first solo flight. The Cessna which he piloted, which was registered to Hillsboro Aviation, was destroyed by fire subsequent to an on airport hard landing.

Starks Twin Oaks, Ordinance 609, and Aviation Accidents

Approximately 30 of the Hillsboro accidents, including all the fatalities, were associated with Hillsboro Airport. Four were attributed to overflights that departed from or were destined for airports not located in the county. The remaining 16 involved flights connected with Bob Stark's privately owned and operated Twin Oaks Airpark. Stark, along with his attorney Richard Vial, claimed responsibility for promoting Washington County's Ordinance 609, legislation which was deliberately designed to force airport expansion and aviation activity at targeted airports and airstrips throughout the county. It is a piece of legislation that caters to aviation interests while dismally failing to factor in property devaluation as well as noise, environmental, safety, and security impacts.

Stark's Twin Oaks is a general aviation facility with a student pilot training program. Located south of Hillsboro Airport in a rural section of Hillsboro it logs roughly 16,445 annual operations--less than 1/14 that of Hillsboro Airport--yet accounts for over 1/3 of the aviation accidents in Hillsboro since 1986. These statistics clearly show that smaller aviation facilities that serve general aviation hobbyists and flight training activities pose a serious safety risk.

Apple Valley Airstrip and Landing Accidents

Twelve of the 50 accidents, just under 25%, involved off airport emergency landings or actual crashes. During the tragic airshow disaster in July 2006 a plane burst into flames when it landed in a residential community. In the process one home was completely destroying, another was rendered unlivable, and two others were damaged.

Over one quarter of the total number of accidents, 14, occurred during airport landings. This raises concerns about State and County decisions to accommodate flight training, sightseeing tours, and increased general aviation activity at airstrips such as Apple Valley that were designed for personal use rather than commercial activity. In the case of Apple Valley, the airstrip parallels a busy highway. In addition it is either directly bordered by or in close proximity to a nearby school, area residences, and state parks. There is no buffer zone in place to accommodate minimally trained students, careless already certified pilots, or unexpected accidents due to mechanical malfunction.

High Aviation Accident Rate in Rural Washington County

The Hillsboro aviation accident tally did not include the 9 accidents associated with the North Plains Gliderport, the 2 accidents (including one fatality) in Banks, the 2 fatalities at Meyer's Riverside in Tigard, the 5 accidents (including 1 fatality) in Forest Grove, the 2 accidents in Cornelius, the accident in Gaston, or the one in Timber which adds an additional 22 to the total.

Thus Washington County has been the site of at least 72 aviation accidents, more than twice as many as Portland, since 1986 even though Washington County in its entirety has a smaller population than the City of Portland.

Scappoose Airpark

A search of the NTSB website yielded 14 accidents reports for Scappoose Airpark over the past 20 years. Please note that in one case Scappoose was misspelled as Scapoose. This airpark, though not in Washington County, is approximately 20 miles from Hillsboro Airport. It is mentioned here due to its history of 14 aviation accidents including 9 fatalities within the past 20 years. In fact, the fatality rate in Scappoose exceeds that of both Portland and Hillsboro. Four of the accidents at this facility involved rotocraft flights two of which were instructional in nature. Two of the helicopter crashes occurred in aircraft either owned or registered to Hillsboro Aviation. One of these involved an on-airport crash landing by a pilot with only 37 hours of total flying time who reported that he was on his third solo flight. In July of 2000 three people died at this facility in a midair collision when a Sports Copter collided with an ultralight. Frequent flyovers including flight training activity between Scappoose Airpark and other Washington County airports further erodes the quality of life for impacted residents.

Concluding Remarks

The statistics discussed above in conjunction with the terrible tragedy which occurred during the airshow attest to the inherent dangers of the excessive and largely unchecked growth of general aviation and flight training activities over Washington County, the second most populated county in the state. The time has come to substantially reduce air traffic intrusions over rural and urban homes and neighborhoods before innocent people on the ground are seriously injured or lose their lives due to yet another aviation tragedy. In addition limits should be placed on disruptive aviation noise intrusions as well as benzene, carbon dioxide, lead, and other toxic emissions resulting from aviation activity. The loss of property value incurred by those who dwell under flight paths and training areas should also be factored in.

There are aviation enthusiasts who might argue that general aviation and flight training are appropriate over less populated areas. This argument is a spurious one at best and is essentially tantamount to playing Russian roulette with the lives and livelihoods of area residents as demonstrated by the air show disaster as well as the fatality in January 2006 that occurred very close to homes in a rural area near the Sunset Airstrip.

Though the population of Washington County is less than that of Portland, this jurisdiction has a far greater likelihood of being impacted by an aviation accident than Portland does largely because the Port of Portland, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Oregon State Department of Aviation in collusion with local elected and appointed government officials have historically and without citizen input or dialogue concentrated the least experienced and most accident prone class of aviation activity over Washington County residents. In so doing they have collectively exhibited a glaring lack of concern for the quality of life of area residents. In light of the findings discussed above assurances by aviation related government agencies professing to care about public safety ring hollow.

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