- Date
- September 13, 1990, 18:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- Woodson, AR
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N920RERotec Engineering Ralley III
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900913039939A
- Case key
- 22948
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Undetermined.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot reported that after takeoff at about 200 feet AGL, he noticed that the elevator 'continued to require back pressure to maintain level flight.' He elected to make a gentle turn and return for landing when he 'felt the snap on the elevator control breaking.' Control was lost and the airplane impacted the terrain. On-scene examination revealed no anomalies and all damage was related to impact forces. The non-rated pilot had never received formal flight training.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N920RE
- Reported as
- Rotec Engineering Ralley III
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 25258
- Airframe hours
- 60
- Engine
- Rotax 503, 43 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Winston F. Wade
- Registered owner
- Satterwhite, Ramon S
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 43
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 400 total · 2 in this make and model · 395 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.