What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Aircraft departed klom in low light conditions just before dawn. Just as the aircraft reached rotate speed the pilot noticed two deer ahead on the runway. The pilot agressively rotated and felt a thump from the left main gear area. All gear indications appeared normal. The pilot elected to return to klns and performed multiple low approaches to confirm the condition of the landing gear, and confirmed the left main gear was missing. The pilot manually retracted the remaining landing gear. The pilot declared an emergency and performed his checklists for the landing. At one half mile the pilot feathered the props and cut off the fuel. The resulting landing caused damage to the skin of the aircraft, one prop blade and the left flap.
As the FAA filed it
AIRCRAFT DEPARTED KLOM IN LOW LIGHT CONDITIONS JUST BEFORE DAWN. JUST AS THE AIRCRAFT REACHED ROTATE SPEED THE PILOT NOTICED TWO DEER AHEAD ON THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT AGRESSIVELY ROTATED AND FELT A THUMP FROM THE LEFT MAIN GEAR AREA. ALL GEAR INDICATIONS APPEARED NORMAL. THE PILOT ELECTED TO RETURN TO KLNS AND PERFORMED MULTIPLE LOW APPROACHES TO CONFIRM THE CONDITION OF THE LANDING GEAR, AND CONFIRMED THE LEFT MAIN GEAR WAS MISSING. THE PILOT MANUALLY RETRACTED THE REMAINING LANDING GEAR. THE PILOT DECLARED AN EMERGENCY AND PERFORMED HIS CHECKLISTS FOR THE LANDING. AT ONE HALF MILE THE PILOT FEATHERED THE PROPS AND CUT OFF THE FUEL. THE RESULTING LANDING CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE SKIN OF THE AIRCRAFT, ONE PROP BLADE AND THE LEFT FLAP.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.