What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Initial assessment of the aircraft revealed that the aircraft had sustained substantial damage to the landing gear, left and right-wing spar and engine firewall. When the aircraft departed on runway 15L and became airborne, the PIC had mistakenly pulled back on the fuel mixture control knob thinking it was the throttle control knob. This action by the PIC caused the aircraft engine to shut down during a critical phase of flight. The PIC attempted to restart the aircraft but due to the low altitude, he had no choice but to look for an emergency landing spot. As the aircraft touched down at the end of the runway, the rough terrain caused the nose landing gear to collapse which eventually led to additional substantial damage.
As the FAA filed it
INITIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE AIRCRAFT REVEALED THAT THE AIRCRAFT HAD SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE LANDING GEAR, LEFT AND RIGHT-WING SPAR AND ENGINE FIREWALL. WHEN THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED ON RUNWAY 15L AND BECAME AIRBORNE, THE PIC HAD MISTAKENLY PULLED BACK ON THE FUEL MIXTURE CONTROL KNOB THINKING IT WAS THE THROTTLE CONTROL KNOB. THIS ACTION BY THE PIC CAUSED THE AIRCRAFT ENGINE TO SHUT DOWN DURING A CRITICAL PHASE OF FLIGHT. THE PIC ATTEMPTED TO RESTART THE AIRCRAFT BUT DUE TO THE LOW ALTITUDE, HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO LOOK FOR AN EMERGENCY LANDING SPOT. AS THE AIRCRAFT TOUCHED DOWN AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY, THE ROUGH TERRAIN CAUSED THE NOSE LANDING GEAR TO COLLAPSE WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO ADDITIONAL SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.
Other reports on N96493 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.