- Date
- September 13, 1983, 16:36 local (23:36 UTC)
- Place
- S. Lake Tahoe, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9734TPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830913048839A
- Case key
- 23508
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft crashed during low alt turn following takeoff from the so. Lake Tahoe arpt. The tower controller advised the plt, after takeoff, that he could turn and circle the valley to gain alt before proceeding on course. The acft made one 360 deg turn and started another. About halfway through the turn it began to descend and the acft's left wing struck theground. According to witnesses the eng sounded normal and 'revved' up before impact. Investigation revealed that the density alt at the time of accident was about 8500 ft MSL. In addition, although the acft was found within CG limits, calculations revealed that the maximum allowable gw limits were exceeded before and at the time of accident. No other aircraft discrepancies were noted attributable to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9734T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0175
- Airframe hours
- 1,234
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William J. & Jodie Velardo
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 11, 1983 · 15 hours before
- Destination
- LAS · Las Vegas, NV
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- TVL · S. Lake Tahoe, runway 18, 8,544 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 163 total · 100 in this make and model · 99 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 190° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TVL, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.