Sr. Tpr. Ralph C. Springer Memorial - Ruch, OR
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member NW_history_buff
N 42° 14.216 W 123° 02.467
10T E 496608 N 4676084
This police memorial is one of two markers located at the Ruch Visitor Center parking lot.
Waymark Code: WMGRT3
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 04/05/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member GA Cacher
Views: 5

Passersby stopping at the nearby Ruch Visitor Center will notice two markers monumented on stone bases. One of the markers is a police memorial that reads:

MIN MEMORY OF
SR. TPR. RALPH C. SPRINGER
OREGON STATE POLICE
NOV. 3, 1946 - SEPT. 23, 1995

I located an online AP article that reads:

RUCH -- An Oregon State Police trooper was killed an another man was critically injured when their ultralight plane crashed near the site of a lit-plane enthusiasts' barbeque.

Trooper Ralph Springer, 48, died Saturday. He was a passenger in a single-engine, two-person plane owned and piloted by Robert Duncan, 51. They crashed after making an approach to land at a private airstrip west of Ruch, in southwest Jackson County.

Springer had written about the workaday lives of state troopers in a weekly column, "Cop's Corner," for the Medford Mail Tribune newspaper.

Springer was pronounced dead at the scene. Duncan was airlifted from the site and taken to a Medford hospital, where he was in critical but stable condition. He suffered a broken vertebra in his neck and internal injuries.

Duncan, who owns Sonitrol of Southern Oregon, was flying an RV 6 aircraft, a kit plane he had bought about four years ago, said his son, Matt.

The two men had flown from Medford to Ruch to attend a barbeque sponsored by the Medford chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Jackson county sheriff's deputy Eric Fox said.

Art Lumley, a retired commercial pilot who attended the barbeque, saw Duncan's plane fly down the runway without landing.

Lumley said he thought that Duncan planned to gain altitude, fly a circle, and make another approach to land.

"He was heading for the hills," Lumley said. "I had that sinking feeling that you do sometimes. Then I heard the crash. No big boom, just metal bending."

_____________________________________________________

List if there are any visiting hours:
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Entrance fees (if it applies):
None


Type of memorial: Plaque

Website pertaining to the memorial: Not listed

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