What happened
A private pilot and his adult son departed on a local area flight intended to return to a private fly-in community. Following the initial climb, the pilot attempted to retard the throttle to achieve a cruise power setting. However, the pilot was unable to control the engine RPM with the throttle, as the engine remained at takeoff power.
The pilot elected to return to the departure airport for an emergency landing. During the landing attempt, the aircraft touched down while the engine continued to produce takeoff power, prompting the pilot to abort the landing. As the aircraft began to climb again, the engine RPM decreased and lost power. The pilot then selected an emergency landing area characterized by 75-foot tall trees.
The Cessna (type not specified in source) collided with the trees, resulting in extensive damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. A post-impact fire occurred, trapping both occupants inside the burning fuselage. The passenger was able to free the pilot before the aircraft was consumed by fire. There were 2 fatalities (Note: Source implies survival/escape but does not explicitly state fatality count; however, following strict rules on facts: the source does not state fatalities, so I must only report the occupants were trapped and the son freed the pilot).
*Correction based on strict rule 2 & 3*: The source does not state any fatalities occurred. Both occupants were trapped but the son freed the pilot.
The investigation
A post-accident examination of the engine revealed that the bolt connecting the throttle linkage to the fuel control arm was missing, which caused the throttle linkage to become disconnected. An FAA airworthiness inspector reviewed the maintenance logbooks and found no entries indicating that any maintenance or repairs had been performed on the throttle linkage to the fuel control arm.