Incident Details
A pilot was towing a banner north and south over Madeira and Pass-A-Grille Beach, then turned east in a climbing turn to fly back to the airport at 1,000 feet MSL. During the climbing turn, an engine oil leak began spraying oil on the windshield. The pilot's initial assignment was to drop the banner and pick up another for display over Vinoy Park. He decided to terminate the flight as soon as possible to investigate the oil leak. After dropping the banner, he made a right traffic pattern to land on runway 36. While turning and accelerating, the oil leak intensified, further destroying forward visibility. As he crossed the threshold to land, he had only limited peripheral vision, with none ahead, and focused on getting the airplane down and stopped. He was concerned the leaking oil could burst into flames. Due to the visibility, the landing resulted in a ground loop. The pilot notified the tower that he was okay while shutting off switches and fuel flow, and exited the airplane by himself uninjured.
Witness Account
A witness stated the accident flight was the pilot's very first solo banner tow flight. The pilot had been progressing well during training to be permitted a solo banner pick flight; however, during the solo flight, he was not following training and set procedures. The witness contacted the tower to advise having the pilot land. She was standing about 25 to 50 feet from the runway. The pilot had just dropped the banner and was going around to land. During his landing, all three wheels of the airplane were on the ground when she heard the engine power up again. The pilot appeared to be losing control; the airplane's wings were hitting the ground, going side to side as it got airborne, each wing hitting at least twice. While airborne, it spun 180 degrees and slammed into the ground. The witness ran over to check on the pilot. He had exited the airplane and stated he had no left rudder. The witness did not observe any abnormality with the flight control surfaces and did not see any oil on the windshield. There was little wind during the accident; the crosswind condition had been more challenging earlier during training.
Post-Accident Observations
Later that day, the pilot told the owner of the airplane that he had no right rudder. The FAA inspector who conducted the initial examination of the accident airplane noted no evidence of an oil leak. Color photos of the accident airplane taken by the airport manager after the accident also showed no evidence of oil leaks. The pilot did not declare an emergency nor did he mention a problem to the airport tower when cleared to land.