Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey pilot reported not expecting crosswind on landing resulted in loss of control on landing and runway excursion.

Date: 2025-07 · Aircraft: Seaplane or Amphibian · Phase: landing

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe|ground-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control|ground-excursion-runway|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence

Synopsis

Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey pilot reported not expecting crosswind on landing resulted in loss of control on landing and runway excursion.

Narrative

I was flying to my normal airport (ZZZ) for gas. I listened to the AWOS; and winds were 10G21 kts; exceeding my personal limits. I diverted to ZZZ1; without about 40 mins of fuel. It does not have AWOS; but ZZZ2 had far improved winds; 7kts if I recall correctly. I had some level of get-there-itis due to having limited fuel. I had landed at ZZZ1 previously in a different plane; but not in this airplane or in any tail dragger. I had very little crosswind experience in a taildragger. I looked at the wind sock; and it was straight down the runway partially inflated; suggesting reasonable winds. On base and final; landing Runway XX; I was getting rocked a bit; with some gusty winds. The runway is far narrower than I was used to; only 40 ft; and by far the narrowest I had landed on in a tailwheel. After landing; I kept the tail up for a bit; and felt my left wheel at one point leave the ground. I pulled all power back out; and was dancing considerably on my feet. I put the tail down completely to improve control. I felt the plane pull left as soon as I did; I was heading for a landing light. I left the runway to the left. I had full right rudder and overcontrolled. This caused me to miss the landing light on the left of the runway; but then to ground loop and make a 180; departing the runway to the right hand side. I later noticed there was a second windsock on the field. I did not see it when approaching. It was fully inflated with a left crosswind.When I arrived at the fuel pump; I noticed that the left steering cable was caught in the tailwheel gear assembly; adding tension. This is a known issue for SeaReys that seems to sometimes just happen when the gear is cycled. This caused the tailwheel to have a natural left steering tendency. I did not notice this while taxiing.The unexpected strong left crosswind; changing from a direct headwind partway down the runway; combined with the tangled left tailwheel; my lack of experience on a narrow runway in a tailwheel; my lack of tailwheel crosswind experience; my limited time in type; my under and then over controlling of the airplane all likely contributed to this occurrence.The airplane did not flip or otherwise receive any noticeable damage. I did not observe any damage to the airport either.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.