# Incident 19980811030969I: Cessna 310, Ruidoso, NM, August 11, 1998

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 11, 1998, 12:00 local time
- Place: Ruidoso, NM
- Airport: Sierra Blanca Regional Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Level Off Touchdown
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.4609° N, 105.5301° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at SIERRA BLANCA RGNL (SRR), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.4609&lon=-105.5301&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3079D, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N3079D-2000-11-29) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 310 (registry code 2074202, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-310) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 310
- Reported engine: CONT O470L
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,000 total, 1,000 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980811030969I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON AUGUST 11, 1998, AT 1200 MDT, A CESSNA 310, N3079D, REGISTERED TO AND FLOWN BY RICHARD NEEL SUTTON ON A CFR PART 91, FLIGHT WAS INVOLVED IN A GEAR UP LANDING INCIDENT AT THE SIERRA BLANCA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, NEAR RUIDOSO, NM. IN A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH FAA INSPECTOR LARRY E. SMALLEY, MR. SUTTON INDICATED THAT HE WAS BUSY WORKING HIS NEW GPS AND INADVERTENLLY FORGOT TO LOWER THE LANDING GEAR. THERE WAS ONLY MINOR DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT AND NEITHER THE PILOT OR HIS TWO CHILDREN SUFFERED ANY INJURIES. NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED, VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED, AND WEATHER DID NOT SEEM TO BE A FACTOR.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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