What happened
On 3 March 2001, a Jodel D120, registration G-AZEF, was conducting a private 'landaway' flight from Wolverhampton to Caernarfon Airport. The flight proceeded normally, arriving at the airfield in favorable weather conditions characterized by a 10-knot north-easterly surface wind.
During the landing on runway 08, the aircraft touched down in a three-point attitude. Shortly after the wheels met the runway, the aircraft began to veer toward the right. The pilot attempted to correct this movement, but the maneuver resulted in a sharp swing to the left. This led to a rapid leftward turn, known as a ground loop, during which the landing gear collapsed. The aircraft's right wing and propeller tips scraped the ground before the aircraft came to a stop on the runway facing west. There were no injuries to the pilot or the passenger.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. The examination focused on the sequence of control inputs and the environmental factors present during the landing phase. The investigation established that the aircraft's movement was influenced by the prevailing crosswind, which contributed to the difficulty in maintaining directional control during the ground loop.