Men Who Died in Oregon Small Plane Crash Were Afghan Air Force Pilots Who Resettled as Refugees

Mohammad Hussain Musawi (C) stands with his flight instructor (L) and Darin Chung, co-founder of the Afghan American Development Group, a nonprofit that helps former Afghan military aviation personnel with refugee resettlement assistance in the United States, at a flight hangar in Independence, Ore., on April 7, 2023. Nikki Chung via AP

PORTLAND, Ore.—Three men who died in a small plane crash in Oregon were Afghan Air Force pilots who fought with the American military and came to the United States as refugees after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban terrorist group in 2021, according to groups that helped with their resettlement.

Salem for Refugees said it resettled Mohammad Hussain Musawi, 35, Mohammad Bashir Safdari, 35, and Ali Jan Ferdawsi, 29, in the Salem area last spring. The nonprofit provides financial aid to newly arrived refugees and helps them find housing and employment, among other support services. It said it was devastated by their deaths.