What happened
On the morning of 25 January 1998, a Pitts S2AE, registration G-PITS, was involved in a ground incident at Weston Aerodrome, Co Kildare. The pilot, operating the aircraft on a private flight, had completed a second local flight of the day and had landed on Runway 07. While backtracking along the tarmac runway toward the parking area, the pilot attempted to navigate the aircraft through a series of zig-zag maneuvers to compensate for the limited forward visibility inherent in the aircraft's configuration.
During one of these maneuvers, the right main wheel moved off the paved surface and onto soft ground. This loss of traction triggered a ground loop that pulled the aircraft off the runway. During the rotation, the left wing tip made contact with the ground, causing significant structural damage.