What happened
During a series of touch-and-go takeoff and landing practice maneuvers, the aircraft experienced a ground loop upon landing. While in the landing rollout phase, the pilot looked down to adjust the trim settings. Upon looking back up, the pilot observed the aircraft turning to the right with the left wingtip nearly contacting the ground. The aircraft subsequently veered off the runway, resulting in the left wing impacting the ground.
At the time of the accident, there was a 90-degree right crosswind component of approximately 8 knots. The pilot had a total flight experience of approximately 265 hours, with only about 7 hours of flight time in this specific make and model, including 2 hours within the previous thirty days.
Findings
There were no mechanical problems reported by the pilot regarding the aircraft's performance prior to the event. The pilot recommended that operators avoid looking down to adjust controls and instead focus on flying the airplane until it has come to a complete stop.
Safety message
To prevent similar accidents, the pilot suggested not looking down and maintaining focus on flying the airplane until it stops.