What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) He stated that he did find water in the fuel on preflight. He had not flown the aircraft since the annual. He washed the aircraft and sumped it, ran it, and sumped it again. He decided to fly the aircraft and perform a touch and go. He was by himself. He stated that after takeoff the engine became rough, he lowered the nose and started looking for a place to land. He maneuvered to miss houses and decided that the trees looked like the best place to land since he knew that there were no large trees in that area. After the crash, he exited the aircraft and the aircraft caught fire. He returned to his house and retrieved a water tank (1000 gallon tank) and returned to the area and wetted the woods down around the area to keep the forest fire contained as much as possible. He didn't appear to have any injuries and stated that he was not hurt.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) HE STATED THAT HE DID FIND WATER IN THE FUEL ON PREFLIGHT. HE HAD NOT FLOWN THE AIRCRAFT SINCE THE ANNUAL. HE WASHED THE AIRCRAFT AND SUMPED IT, RAN IT, AND SUMPED IT AGAIN. HE DECIDED TO FLY THE AIRCRAFT AND PERFORM A TOUCH AND GO. HE WAS BY HIMSELF. HE STATED THAT AFTER TAKEOFF THE ENGINE BECAME ROUGH, HE LOWERED THE NOSE AND STARTED LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LAND. HE MANEUVERED TO MISS HOUSES AND DECIDED THAT THE TREES LOOKED LIKE THE BEST PLACE TO LAND SINCE HE KNEW THAT THERE WERE NO LARGE TREES IN THAT AREA. AFTER THE CRASH, HE EXITED THE AIRCRAFT AND THE AIRCRAFT CAUGHT FIRE. HE RETURNED TO HIS HOUSE AND RETRIEVED A WATER TANK (1000 GALLON TANK) AND RETURNED TO THE AREA AND WETTED THE WOODS DOWN AROUND THE AREA TO KEEP THE FOREST FIRE CONTAINED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. HE DIDN'T APPEAR TO HAVE ANY INJURIES AND STATED THAT HE WAS NOT HURT.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.