PIPER PA-12

Full Narrative

The pilot and his passenger departed from the pilot's home airport for a brief personal flight. About 10 minutes later, the pilot returned to the airport traffic area and entered the traffic pattern. In his initial telephone interview with the NTSB, the pilot reported that there "was a crosswind, with some gusting," and that the airplane bounced after its initial touchdown. It then bounced several more times, ground looped, and veered off the runway, substantially damaging the left wing. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane. In his subsequent written statement to the NTSB, the pilot reported that while on the downwind leg, he was asked by the controller to "keep [the] pattern short," since his airplane was slow and there was another airplane behind him. The pilot said he landed close behind a Cessna 182 that had just departed. The pilot was uncertain whether the bounces and loss of control were due to the wind, or to the wake turbulence from the departing airplane. The automated weather observation at the airport, which was posted about 2 minutes before the accident, included "variable" winds at 4 knots.