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3 dead after small plane crashes into townhomes east of Portland
The crash sparked a fire that spread to four of the townhome units, according to fire officials. About 9,000 people lost power for hours due to downed power lines.
TROUTDALE, Ore. — Three people are confirmed dead after a small plane with two occupants crashed into a residential area near the Troutdale Airport Saturday morning, striking a set of power transmission lines and then hitting a row of townhomes, setting multiple units ablaze. The twin-engine Cessna 421C crashed at around 10:30 a.m. in Fairview, about 11 miles east of Portland.
Gresham fire officials confirmed Saturday evening that there were at least three fatalities in the incident, but said they could not confirm any other details about who died. The Federal Aviation Administration previously confirmed that there had been two people onboard the plane, and Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis said that one townhome resident was unaccounted for.
There were also multiple injuries in the incident, according to Lewis and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputy John Plock, but the extent of the injuries and the number of injured people were not known.
Video shot by people at the scene late Saturday morning showed at multiple units on fire in the row of townhomes, with debris strewn in front and visible flames in the upper story of one house and smoke billowing from a window of the other, with a large number of fire personnel responding.
There was a “somewhat large” debris field, Plock said, and there were two main crash areas because some pieces apparently began to break off after the plane hit the power equipment.
The crash side is located near a power transmission line, and video from the scene on Saturday showed multiple wires apparently knocked off of one of the transmission towers. Some of the lines landed in a nearby field and sparked a brush fire, Plock said, although the fire didn’t spread far.
The damage to the lines also caused a power outage; Portland General Electric confirmed that around 9,000 customers in the Fairview area had been impacted. PGE later said service had been restored to all impacted customers as of 3 p.m.
PGE told KGW on Saturday evening that its crews were onsite and working with National Transportation Safety Board officials to safely access the power equipment and assess the damage before beginning repairs. The transmission tower itself was still in place, PGE said; most of the damage appeared to be to the lines.
Lewis said fire crews were first notified of the incident by staff at the Troutdale Airport control tower, who reported a column of smoke west of the airport. Arriving crews found heavy fire in the row of townhomes, initially involving two units but later spreading to impact four in total.
The incident became a five-alarm fire, Lewis said, in part because the high temperatures on Saturday meant that fire personnel needed to frequently take breaks to avoid overheating. Portland Fire & Rescue and Vancouver Fire Department crews responded in addition to Gresham Fire Department crews.
The crash impact caused structural damage to the building, he added, so fire crews couldn’t safely work inside the building as much as they’d normally be able to in a residential fire, and had to focus more on exterior operations with overhead water from a ladder truck. He said it wasn’t clear if fuel from the plane helped feed the fire, but that the size of the smoke column in the initial reports suggested that it was possible.
A total of five families have been displaced, Lewis said, with the possibility of a sixth displaced family depending on the condition of their unit once fire crews assess it.
Plock added that volunteers from the Trauma Intervention Program had responded to the site to help the people who were displaced, and the Red Cross later told KGW that the agency had sent team members to scene and that all the affected families had safe places to stay lined up for Saturday night.
The FAA said the NTSB will lead the investigation into the crash, with the FAA also involved. An NTSB spokesperson told KGW that the agency has dispatched two investigators to the site who will document the plane wreckage and then move it to a secure facility for further evaluation.
Anyone who witnessed the accident or has surveillance video or other relevant information is asked to contact witness@ntsb.gov. The NTSB spokesperson said the agency would not discuss the cause of the accident during the on-the-ground investigation phase, and that it will be up to local authorities to release any information about victims or injuries.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Rep. Jeff Dotseth denied his ex-wife’s claims and pled guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota DFL leaders said it’s time for Rep. Jeffrey Dotseth to suspend his reelection campaign, citing a newspaper report that delved into past abuse allegations, asserting he fails to meet the standards of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
The first-term Republican from Kettle River has denied the abuse claims and noted he pled guilty only to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.
The Minnesota Star Tribune Tuesday reported Dotseth was arrested and charged in 2008 with misdemeanor domestic assault after his wife Penny called police to say he had dragged her out of bed and pulled her across the floor of their home in Baldwin Township in Sherburne County.
KARE 11 obtained copies of the citation and court records from Sherburne County District Court and can confirm the citation and other details of the newspaper report, including the fact that Dotseth was subject to a protection order and temporarily barred from possessing firearms at the time.
“Dotseth’s behavior, whether it was yesterday or years ago, was unacceptable and not fitting for an elected representative of our state,” DFL House Majority Leader Jamie Long told reporters at a Minnesota State Capitol news conference.
“There was an order of protection against him with a prohibition on owning firearms, and a guilty plea to disorderly conduct. These are serious consequences for very troubling behavior.”
Dotseth’s ex-wife Penny laid out details of the arrest and alleged previous abuse in an affidavit filed as part of the couple’s divorce proceedings in 2008.
“I have been choked, punched, kicked, slapped, pinned down, smothered and had my hair pulled,” she wrote.
“In 1994, Jeff had slammed me up against the wall, he had pinned me to the wall and had all of his weight on me. I could not move my arms and he was choking me. The only thing I could do was spit in his face.”
She gave details of other alleged attacks, including one that ended when her son Brandon, who was 9 years old at the time, rescued her by throwing a plastic chair at Dotseth.
Brandon, Penny’s son from a previous marriage, also provided an affidavit as part of the divorce case, asserting, “I have been punched, slapped, choked, thrown, hit with things, and kicked by him.”
The divorce file also contains a sworn affidavit from Dotseth denying and disputing the abuse claims. He referred to himself as a non-violent person and said his wife was the person who instigated their arguments and abused him.
“I believe that Petitioner has anger management issues – she has spit in my face, thrown objects at me, frequently hit me and pulled my hair. When she becomes angry and gets violent, communication is difficult.”
Dotseth issued the following statement to KARE on Tuesday:
“More than 15 years ago I went through an extremely difficult divorce and child custody dispute. There were hurtful allegations made against me that I deny, including a sworn affidavit I filed under oath under penalty of perjury.
“Ultimately the charge was dismissed and I pled guilty to disorderly conduct. I now have a cordial relationship with my ex-wife and have worked to put this difficult chapter of my life behind me.”
DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said the House Republican Caucus should’ve done a better job of vetting Dotseth as a legislative candidate in 2022.
“The fact Representative Dotseth concealed this information from voters when he barely won his seat two years ago is outrageous,” Martin told reporters.
Martin said he had heard rumors about Dotseth’s past before the Star Tribune report but was not aware of the extent of the accusations by the lawmaker’s ex-wife and her son.
“What did the House GOP leadership know? When did they know it? And why did they say nothing with Jeff Dotseth was poised to become a state legislator?”
Rep. Lisa Demuth, the Republican House Minority Leader, issued the following statement in response to the DFL’s press conference:
“Domestic violence is an absolute red line for me — it’s never acceptable under any circumstances. This case was resolved through the legal process more than 15 years ago, concluding with no charge or conviction for domestic assault.
“I spoke with Rep. Dotseth and he reiterated the contents of what was in his affidavit denying the allegations that were made during the divorce proceedings.”
Chair Martin noted he was the first one to call for the resignation of Rep. John Thompson in 2021 when allegations of past domestic abuse by Thompson surfaced in older police reports. Thompson was never convicted of abuse and refused to resign from the legislature.
House DFL lawmakers voted to expel Thompson from their caucus, meaning he could not attend private strategy meetings with them. In his bid for reelection in 2022 he lost his primary to another Democrat.
The flight from Salt Lake City to Portland turned around shortly after takeoff due to a pressurization issue, the airline said.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Delta Airlines flight headed from Salt Lake City to Portland on Sunday morning turned around shortly after takeoff and returned to Salt Lake International Airport after it was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet, leading to a horrifying scenario for 140 people on board.
Two passengers told KSL, an NBC news station in Salt Lake City, that people’s ears and noses started to bleed on the plane.
Jaclyn Blain, who was headed to Oregon for a work trip with several of her colleagues, said shortly after takeoff, she and her colleague started to hear noises and felt the plane dipping.
She said their ears started to pop and she noticed people around her were grabbing their ears and noses. Some were crying, others complained of vertigo and head pain. A baby was screaming from the pain, she said. Blain’s colleague told KSL it felt like she’d been stabbed in the ear.
“It was scary,” Blain told KSL. “You just don’t know what’s wrong. (My colleague) put her finger in her ear and was like, ‘Oh my god, my ear’s bleeding.’ And then they got my other colleague two rows behind me. I look back and he’s in tears.”
A representative from the airline said some passengers were met by paramedics at Salt Lake International Airport. According to USA Today, 10 passengers at the airport needed evaluation or treatment. Blain’s colleague told KSL she was told at the hospital that her eardrum had ruptured.
The airline issued the following statement to KSL about the flight:
“Delta flight 1203 from SLC to PDX experienced a pressurization issue in-flight that resulted in an air return to SLC. Customers have been accommodated on another aircraft. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travels. The safety of our customers and people remains Delta’s most important priority.”
The airline also told KSL that oxygen masks didn’t deploy. The plane, a Boeing 737-900, was taken out of service Sunday and went back into service Monday after technicians fixed the pressurization issue.
The Federal Aviation Administration told USA Today it’s investigating the incident.
The cities, including Brooklyn Park, have until October 10 to decide whether to accept the preliminarily design plans or offer specific amendments.
ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — Several city councils are voting on a light rail project that connects Minneapolis to parts of the north metro, including Crystal and Robbinsdale.
The vote isn’t about whether to stop the Blue Line Extension light rail project, but whether councilors would approve parts of its proposed design plan.
Crystal City Manager Adam Bell says the council agreed to delay the vote to October 1.
In Robbinsdale, the council also voted to approve tabling the topic and create a special work session on October 1 to continue discussions.
Some residents in Robbinsdale, who oppose the project, say the plans don’t address public safety and displaces residents and businesses.
“Noise, for one thing,” said Mona Grellson. She lives on Crystal Lake with her brother, Steve, and says a station would be built across the street from the home they’ve shared for 20 years.
The 13 mile-long project has been in planning stages for 10 years. It would connect Minneapolis to north Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park with about a dozen stops in between.
“I don’t think we would move at this point, but I do know people that will and I know some people that already have,” said Mona.
The four cities can vote to accept the proposals and if they don’t, must include specific amendments. If one or more cities disapprove, the agency in charge, The Metropolitan Council, will conduct further studies and hold more public hearings and can amend the plans. Ultimately, though, they aren’t required to do that.
The Robbinsdale City Council listed several concerns in a letter to the Met Council that includes public safety and a lack of enforcement. Met Council is projecting 15,000 rides every day on the route. The councilors are also concerned about the size of a nearby park and ride.
“We can still take those changes and try and find a solution that meets what’s needed to run an effective transit line, but also what the city is asking us to change,” said Nick Thompson, who leads Metro Transit’s Capital Program development.
He says the Blue Line is the state’s largest project and will people to the airport, Mall of America and health care.
“Those need faster service like light rail that can carry more people because the demand is higher,” said Thompson.
The city councils have until October 10th to make any decisions on the design and then the Met Council has another 60 days to decide what changes it might make. The Blue Line is expected to be up and running by 2030.
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