Coastal Oregon is breathtaking. It's also notoriously dangerous for pilots. When word started spreading about a Coos Bay Oregon plane crash involving a Piper PA-32R-301T, the local community and aviation enthusiasts immediately looked toward the rugged terrain and the unpredictable Pacific mist. This wasn't just a headline. It was a tragedy that unfolded on a Friday afternoon, leaving investigators with a puzzle and a family with a void.
The aircraft, a Saratoga with the tail number N1813W, went down on March 8, 2024.
It wasn't a mystery for long, but the details are haunting. The plane took off from North Bend, specifically the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport (OTH), around 3:30 PM. It didn't get far. By 4:00 PM, first responders were already scrambling toward the heavily forested ridge lines southeast of the city.
People often think small plane crashes are always about engine failure. Sometimes they are. But in the Pacific Northwest, the environment is usually a silent partner in the disaster.
The Timeline of the Coos Bay Aviation Accident
Everything happened fast.
The pilot, 65-year-old Olen J. "Jim" Moore, was the only soul on board. He was a known figure in the community, not a stranger passing through. When N1813W dropped off the radar, the Coos County Sheriff's Office didn't have to wait long for a signal. The Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) did its job. It led the search crews—including the U.S. Coast Guard and local Search and Rescue teams—to a remote, timbered area about three miles southeast of the airport.
Ground crews had a rough time. The terrain near Coos Bay is thick with Douglas fir and steep enough to make a mountain goat think twice. They found the wreckage in a "heavily wooded area," which is basically code for a recovery mission that requires chainsaws and grit.
Moore didn't survive.
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took over the site quickly. If you’ve ever seen a crash site in the woods, it's messy. Debris isn't just on the ground; it’s hung up in the canopy. The investigation into the Coos Bay Oregon plane crash had to look at everything from the fuel lines to the pilot's last radio transmission.
Why the Saratoga N1813W Stalled or Fell
Investigators look for "scars" on the trees. If the branches are cut cleanly, the engine was likely producing power. If the trees are snapped or crushed, it might have been a "pancake" landing or a stall.
The NTSB Preliminary Report mentioned that the aircraft hit a ridge.
Weather at the time of the Coos Bay crash was... well, it was Oregon. While not a total storm, the ceilings were low. Pilots call it "scud running" when they try to stay under the clouds to keep the ground in sight. It's a gamble. One ridge line that's 200 feet higher than you thought, or a pocket of fog that rolls in from the bay, and suddenly you're flying blind into a hillside.
Examining the Pilot and the Piper Saratoga
Jim Moore wasn't a novice. He was an experienced pilot who flew this specific aircraft often. The Piper Saratoga is a workhorse, often called the "minivan of the skies" because it can carry a decent load and has a reputation for being stable.
But it’s a complex airplane. It has retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller. It’s not a Cessna 172 that almost flies itself. It requires attention.
One thing people get wrong about these incidents is assuming there’s one single "smoking gun." Aviation safety experts talk about the "Swiss Cheese Model." It’s when the holes in several slices of cheese line up perfectly. A little bit of fatigue, a slightly lower cloud base than forecasted, a momentary distraction—any of these alone is fine. Together? They’re fatal.
- Registration: N1813W
- Model: Piper PA-32R-301T (Turbocharged Saratoga)
- Location: 3 miles SE of North Bend, Oregon
- Terrain: High-density timber, steep ridges
The Search and Recovery Effort
The Coast Guard out of Sector North Bend sent an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. They were over the site almost immediately. But because of the canopy, they couldn't see much. It took the boots on the ground to actually reach Jim.
The Coos County Sheriff’s Office SAR team is incredibly well-trained. They deal with lost hikers and coastal mishaps all the year round. This recovery, however, was somber. By the time they reached the coordinates, it was clear that the impact had been high-energy.
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Lessons From the Coos Bay Oregon Plane Crash
We have to look at what this means for general aviation safety.
Whenever a crash happens near the coast, we talk about "spatial disorientation." It’s basically when your inner ear tells you you're level, but the plane is actually in a bank. In the gray-on-gray world of the Oregon coast, where the sky looks like the water and the water looks like the fog, it’s easy to lose the horizon.
The NTSB spent months looking at the engine of N1813W. They look for "signature" failures. They check the spark plugs, the magnetos, and the fuel pump. If the engine was screaming when it hit, then the pilot was likely trying to climb or navigate. If it was silent, we’re looking at fuel starvation or a mechanical "heart attack."
In the case of the Coos Bay Oregon plane crash, the proximity to the airport—just three miles out—suggests something went wrong during the initial climb-out or a very early maneuver. That's a "critical phase of flight." You don't have altitude to play with. If you lose an engine or get disoriented at 5,000 feet, you have minutes to fix it. At 500 feet? You have seconds.
The Reality of Flying the Oregon Coast
Honestly, the "graveyard of the Pacific" isn't just for ships.
The winds that whip off the ocean and hit the Coast Range create immediate updrafts and downdrafts. You can be flying perfectly straight and suddenly drop 300 feet because of a "mountain wave." For a Saratoga, even a turbocharged one, those shifts are violent.
Moore's death was a blow to the local aviation community at OTH. Small airports are tight-knit. Everyone knows everyone’s tail number. When N1813W didn't come back, the silence in the hangars was deafening.
Actionable Steps for General Aviation Safety
If you're a pilot or someone who flies in small aircraft along the coast, there are specific takeaways from the 2024 Coos Bay incident.
- Personal Minimums: Never rely solely on the legal minimums. If the ceiling is 1,000 feet, and your personal comfort is 2,000, don't fly. The Oregon coast doesn't care about your schedule.
- ADS-B and Tracking: Ensure your transponder and tracking software (like ForeFlight) are active. In the Moore crash, the ELT was the hero that allowed for a fast recovery, preventing a multi-day search.
- Spatial Disorientation Training: Spend time under the "hood" with an instructor. Practice what to do when the horizon disappears. You need to trust your gauges, not your "gut."
- Maintenance Logs: Regularly check for ADs (Airworthiness Directives) on older Pipers. The Saratoga is a rugged plane, but the turbo systems require meticulous care to prevent mid-air power loss.
The final report from the NTSB usually takes 12 to 24 months to be fully released. While the preliminary data gives us the "where" and "when," the final report will give us the "why." For now, we know that a dedicated member of the Coos Bay community was lost in a piece of terrain that has claimed many before him. It’s a stark reminder that in aviation, the margin for error is thin, especially where the forest meets the sea.
To stay updated on the final findings, you can monitor the NTSB's CAROL database using the tail number N1813W. This will provide the full breakdown of mechanical vs. pilot factors once the lab work on the wreckage is complete. Awareness and respect for the coastal weather remain the best tools for anyone flying the PNW corridor.