A system for performing ultrasonic inspection of a rail including a sensing wheel arranged to roll along the top of the rail, and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers in the sensing wheel. The sensing wheel is aligned perpendicular to a vertical plane extending from the rail, detecting horizontal defects in a head area of the rail. The ultrasonic rail inspection system is designed to detect and classify horizontal defects in the head of the rail which will propagate in the longitudinal direction that will eventually result in defects component that will propagate in the transverse plane of the rail head area. The capability of detecting and classification of this type of defect will enable compliance to the FRA subpart 213.113 Defective rails specification, that is currently not being met by the existing technology.