Authorities ID two killed when plane crashed into Newberg home

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Authorities have identified the two passengers found deceased in a small plane that crashed into the roof of a Newberg home Tuesday night.

According to the Newberg-Dundee Police Department, Barrett Bevacqua, 20, and Michele Cavallotti, 22, of Hillsboro were discovered inside the aircraft by the time officials arrived shortly before 7 p.m.

Officials say Bevacqua was a student pilot and Cavallotti was an instructor with the Hillsboro Aero Academy.

A third passenger, 20-year-old Emily Hurd, was airlifted to a local hospital with critical injuries. She was reported to be a pilot in training as well.

A social media post from a woman who says she is Hurd’s mother says she was in surgery all night Tuesday with several broken bones and says the next few days are critical for her.

There were people inside the home at the time of the crash, but officials said they all managed to escape safely. The Red Cross responded to help them with emergency shelter.

It’s not clear what caused the crash, which is now being investigated by local police. The structural stability of the house is also being assessed. Neither the airplane nor the home caught fire.

The plane that crashed is commonly known as a Piper Seminole, which has a fixed wing and is a twin-engine aircraft. A certified flight instructor told KOIN 6 that those are common airplanes for pilot training.

“We’re going to be looking at everything. Flight training programs, experience of the pilots, what was going on with the flight track information. I’m trying to not go down one specific thing, we try to gather as much data as we can going forward,” said Eric Gutierrez, an air safety investigator.