- Date
- August 1, 2026, 10:13 local (15:13 UTC)
- Place
- North Little Rock, AR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3618GCessna 310
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Little Rock FSDO
- Case key
- 203521
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
The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction’s failure to verify that the landing gear was extended before landing, which resulted in a gear-up landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The flight instructor reported that at some point between the base turn and final approach, the landing gear selector switch was inadvertently moved to the UP or gear retracted position. Unknown to the flight instructor or the pilot receiving instruction, the airplane subsequently landed with the landing gear retracted and sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage. Postaccident examination of the landing gear selector switch revealed that the safety notch was worn and allowed the switch to move from the DOWN position to the UP position with minimal force. The worn condition of the safety notch could have increased the likelihood of an inadvertent movement of the selector switch during flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3618G
- Reported as
- Cessna 310
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 35313
- Built
- 1956
- Airframe hours
- 5,500
- Engines
- Continental Motors O-470, 235 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental Motors O-470, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 2026
- Airport
- ORK · North Little Rock Municipal Airport, runway 23, 5,002 × 75 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 5, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 174 total · 1.5 in this make and model · 22.8 in the last 90 days · 1.5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 24, 2026
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 2,862.2 total · 148.1 in this make and model · 2,796.3 as pilot in command · 157.3 in the last 90 days · 51.7 in the last 30 days · 4.9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 9 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- KORK
- METAR
- KORK 011515Z AUTO 28009G18KT 250V310 10SM CLR 29/19 A2979 RMK AO2
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 15, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.3 MB in all.