Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Earl Burtch was killed in an airplane crash when the Bellanca monoplane he was piloting struck a mountain near Coffee Creek in Douglas County.
He was returning to Medford after making a trip to Roseburg to install and repair several radios for the Oregon State Police. During his return trip he encountered clouds that closed in on him. One of the wings of his plane struck a mountain, causing it to break off. The plane nosedived into a pasture near Coffee Creek, killing him on impact.
Sergeant Burtch had served with the Oregon State Police for 16 months.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and 5-year-old son.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OR-24347C14- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You barely got started.
Sergeant Burtch gave the Oregon State Police 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the people of Oregon. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Burtch.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Earl A. Burtch is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OR, 66 of 197 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.5% of this state's fallen. That is 2.5 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Oregon State Police, 15 of 31 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 48.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Earl A. Burtch's cause is highlighted.
How Earl A. Burtch Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Earl A. Burtch is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
30 officers from Oregon State Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
