Small Plane Crashes at a National Park in Washington, Leaving 1 Dead and 2 Injured

The plane, identified as a Murphy SR3500 Moose, was carrying three passengers at the time of the accident. All three were taken to a Level 1 Trauma Center.

Rudy Blalock

Published: 7/17/2025, 4:05:06 PM EDT

Small Plane Crashes at a National Park in Washington, Leaving 1 Dead and 2 Injured — A Cessna 172 Skyhawk in a file photo. (Shutterstock)

One person has died and two others are recovering following a small plane crash in a remote section of Olympic National Park, according to National Park Service (NPS) officials.

At approximately 6:50 p.m. on July 15, park rangers were notified of a plane crash in the Quinault area, situated on a densely forested, steep slope north of the Irely Lake Trailhead.

Rangers quickly responded, working closely with the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Search and Rescue, according to a July 16 press release.

The plane, identified as a Murphy SR3500 Moose, was carrying three passengers at the time of the accident. All three were taken to a Level 1 Trauma Center.

According to the NPS, one person was pronounced dead, while the two survivors were treated for injuries. The cause of the accident remains unknown and is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

A spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle reported that both survivors of the crash were in “satisfactory condition” as of Wednesday, according to local news station KOMO News.

A spokesperson for the medical center did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NTD News.

The tragedy at Olympic National Park follows a series of recent small airplane accidents across the nation.

On July 8, a family of four from North Carolina died after their private aircraft crashed in a field northeast of Sanford. According to the state Highway Patrol, the victims included Travis Buchanan, 35, his wife Candace Buchanan, 35, and their children Aubrey, 10, and Walker, 9. Three family members died at the scene, and the fourth was pronounced dead at a hospital. No one survived the accident, which involved a Cirrus SR22T airplane.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, an investigator arrived at the Sanford crash site the next day to assess the wreckage and gather information about the circumstances.

Earlier in July, a skydiving plane carrying 15 occupants crashed near Cross Keys Airport in New Jersey after veering off the end of the runway. All aboard were hospitalized after the Cessna 208B went down in a wooded area. In late June, a Cessna 441 with six people on board, including the Weller family, crashed after taking off from Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Ohio. All six died in the crash, which occurred as the group was heading to Montana for a family vacation.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s Monthly Aviation Dashboard, there have been 117 fatal plane crashes and 514 non-fatal crashes in 2025 so far. Fatal commercial aviation accidents worldwide have declined since 2019, the NTSB reports.