Piper PA32-301 incident near Quzinkie, Alaska, January 18, 1983
On January 18, 1983 at about 7:00 pm local time, a Piper PA32-301, registered N8385G, suffered minor damage in an incident near Quzinkie, Alaska (Quzinkie airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 18, 1983 · about 7:00 pm local time
- Place
- Quzinkie, Alaska · Quzinkie · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA32-301 · all PA32-301s on the register
- Registration
- N8385G · no longer on the register · serial 32-8106063
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
DURING LANDING ROLL THE ACFT STRUCK A SNOW BERM ON THE RUNWAY CAUSING THE NOSE GEAR TO FAIL.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,750 hours in all; 500 in this make and model; 150 in the last 90 days; 50 in the last 30 days; 1,560 as pilot in command; 100 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection
- Maximum gross weight: 3,600 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Island Air Service
The flight
- Departed from: KDK Kodiak AK
- Destination: Quzinkie
- Runway 27, 2,500 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 220° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 2,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 28°F (-2°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N8385G the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.