Search for missing pilot suspended following small plane crash off Newport coast

NEWPORT Ore. (KPTV) - A 78-year-old pilot remains missing after a small plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Newport Monday afternoon.

At around 11 p.m. on Monday night, the Coast Guard said crews suspended their search for the pilot after covering around 124 square miles.

The Beechcraft B95 crashed about a mile west of Nye Beach shortly before 12:45 p.m., according to eyewitnesses who reported the incident to the Newport Fire Department.

According to the U.S Coast Guard Northwest District, the pilot was the plane’s lone occupant.

Yoshio Abe was fishing just south of the Yaquina Lighthouse when he noticed the twin-engine plane.

“The plane was unusually flying low, maybe about 20 feet above the surface,” Abe said.

Abe said the plane was making a strange flight pattern, and he initially thought the pilot might have been practicing. Soon after, it hit the water.

“Within three minutes the head went down, and in 10 seconds the whole thing went down,” Abe said.

Abe said he boated out to the area where the plane went down, but he did not see anyone or anything come back to the surface.

The U.S. Coast Guard deployed a helicopter and search-and-rescue boats to the area.

As darkness fell, people continued to gather at Don and Ann Davis Park at Nye Beach to watch the emergency response. Some worried the search could be suspended overnight as crews faced worsening visibility.

“I’m hoping for the best outcome. They [the pilot’s family] at least get a little bit of closure. I’m hoping they find some part of the aircraft or him,” said Vanessa Muth. “Keeping them in my thoughts and my prayers.”

The pilot has not yet been identified publicly by officials, but Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records show the plane was owned by Ralph Busby III, a former Newport city councilor.

The FAA is investigating the crash.