Cessna T210N accident near Portland, Oregon, January 6, 1983
On January 6, 1983 at about 5:03 am local time, a Cessna T210N, registered N5370Y, was destroyed in an accident near Portland, Oregon (Portland-Troutdale airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. 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 6, 1983 · about 5:03 am local time
- Place
- Portland, Oregon · Portland-Troutdale · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna T210N · all T210Ns on the register
- Registration
- N5370Y · no longer on the register · serial 21064186
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH THE SIDE OF A HILL DURING A DESCENT. THE PILOT HAD CANCELED HIS IFR CLEARANCE AND RADAR SERVICES WERE TERMINATED AND A FREQUENCY CHANGE WAS APPROVED. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED FLYING BENEATH THE CLOUDS TOWARD THE HILL WITH WHICH IT COLLIDED. THE WITNESSES REPORTED HEARING THE ENGINE AND SEEING THE ACFT ENTER CLOUDS FOLLOWED BY THE NOISE OF AN EXPLOSION. THE WEATHER WAS IMC. THERE WERE NO OPERATIONAL DIFFICULTIES REPORTED OR NOTED.
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: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,150 hours in all; 1,198 in this make and model; 194 in the last 90 days; 67 in the last 30 days; 4,941 as pilot in command; 1,120 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 894 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, December 17, 1982; 49 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 4,000 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520R (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Aar Western Skyways, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: S03 Ashland OR at 3:35 am
- Destination: TTD Troutdale OR
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 060° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 500 ft; scat at 200 ft
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:00 am from PDX, 3 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
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.
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.