Willis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dyersburg, Tennessee 38024
Sunday, April 8, 2007 17:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with a ditch short of the runway threshhold. According to the student pilot, he was practicing "on point or spot landings". He stated that he "landed too close to the south end of the strip and got the left landing gear caught in a ditch about 8 inches from the top, causing the gear to bend backwards and causing the aircraft to veer to the left. He regained control of the aircraft and stopped." He further stated that he "should have picked a spot further down the runway to practice spot landings." Damage to the airplane consisted of both landing gear and damage to surrounding airframe structure. There were no pre-impact mechanical problems reported by the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student's pilot's misjudged distance/altitude that led to an undershoot and a failure to attain the proper touchdown point.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/8/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Dyersburg
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 38024
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355932N
Event Location Longitude 0892414W
Event Location Airport Willis Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PVT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 340
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DYR
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21563
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Apr 8 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2007 1:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Memphis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6555S
NTSB Number ATL07CA071
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model C-150H
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15067355
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 38
Airframe Hours 4692.3
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Harold R. Willis
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7532 Millsfield Hwy
Aircraft Owner City Newbern
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38059
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Tony R. Willis
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Newburn
Operator State TN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 38059
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City Dyersburg
Departure State TN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PVT
Destination City Dyersburg
Destination State TN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 23 2007 11:06AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 2500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --