FTW83FU003 · Rotec RALLY 2B
Rotec RALLY 2B · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) en route
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW83FU003
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Rotec RALLY 2B
- Aircraft type
- Rotec RALLY 2
- Category
- Ultralight
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- UNREG
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 103: Ultralight
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Flt control syst, wing spoiler system › Deployed inadvertently
- Flt control syst, wing spoiler system › Incorrect
- Ignition system › Switched off
- Pilot in command › Maintenance, adjustment, improper
- Pilot in command › Powerplant controls, improper use of
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
AFTER ASSEMBLING HIS ULTRALIGHT, THE PLT RECEIVED DUAL INSTRUCTION IN A 2 PLACE MODEL. AFTER HIS 2ND DUAL FLT, HE TOLD HIS INSTRUCTOR (CFI) HE HAD SOLOED HIS VEHICLE. THE CFI CAUTIONED HIM AGAINST FURTHER SOLO FLTS UNTIL HE WAS QUALIFIED &EMPHASIZED THE NEED TO WEAR A HELMET. 3 DAYS LATER, WITNESSES SAW THE VEHICLE CRUISING AT APRX 300 TO 500 FT AGL WHEN ITSUDDENLY ROLLED RIGHT & ENTERED A STEEP NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE & CRASHED. NONE OF THE WITNESSES COULD VERIFY THE ENG STATUS BEFORE IMPACT. NEITHER OF THE PROP BLADES HAD ROTATIONAL DAMAGE, BUT 1 BLADE BROKE WHEN IT HIT THE GROUND. THE ENG WAS STARTED WITH FUEL REMAINING IN THE FUEL TANK & OPERATED NORMALLY. THE IGNITION SWITCH WAS MOUNTED ON THE CONTROL STICK NEXT TO THE TWIST GRIP THROTTLE & WAS FOUND IN THE OFF POSITION. THE ENG WAS EQUIPPED WITH A CENTRIFUGAL CLUTCH & COULD NOT BE STARTED BY A WINDMILLING PROP. THE PLT WAS NOT WEARING A HELMET & HAD SUFFERED EXTENSIVE HEAD INJURIES. HIS CFI HAD WARNED HIM THAT HIS SPOILER LINES WERE TOO TIGHT & COULD RESULT IN UNWANTED SPOILER ACTION WTIH AFT STICK MOVEMENT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW83FU003
- Event ID
- 20001214X44144
- Case number
- FTW83FU003
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 86f773fd90c479cdf37cdfd11bc2aa069dcdddaba07bb11e7c09cb54f2c86a31; retrieved 2026-09-21T06:18:04.656Z.