Piper PA-34-220T accident near Pocatello, Idaho, December 30, 1983
On December 30, 1983 at about 7:00 pm local time, a Piper PA-34-220T, registered N8362L, was destroyed in an accident near Pocatello, Idaho (Pocatello Muni 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
- December 30, 1983 · about 7:00 pm local time
- Place
- Pocatello, Idaho · Pocatello Muni · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-34-220T · all PA-34-220Ts on the register
- Registration
- N8362L · registry record · serial 34-8133053
- 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
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
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: glider
- Flight time: 1,570 hours in all; 27 in this make and model; 137 in the last 90 days; 54 in the last 30 days; 1,402 as pilot in command; 981 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 492 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, November 9, 1983; 40 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 4,750 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-360-KB (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SLC Salt Lake City UT at 5:54 pm
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 21, 9,056 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 040° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 700 ft
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 21°F (-6°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 7:03 pm from PIH, 2 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.