Incident Overview

Date: Saturday 4 December 1999
Aircraft Type: Boeing 757-28A
Owner/operator: Flying Colours Airlines
Registration Number: G-FCLI
Location: Manchester Airport (MAN) – ÿ United Kingdom
Phase of Flight: Take off
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 239
Component Affected: Landing gearLanding gear
Investigating Agency: AAIBAAIB
Category: Accident
An aircraft experienced a landing gear retraction issue during a flight to Las Palmas, resulting in precautionary actions and a diversion to London Gatwick Airport. The aircraft’s speed was reduced to 270 kt, and the landing gear was recycled, but the issue persisted with EICAS cautions and no apparent impact on the landing gear. The commander ultimately diverted the aircraft for a landing at Gatwick, resulting in an overweight landing.An aircraft experienced a landing gear retraction issue during a flight to Las Palmas, resulting in precautionary actions and a diversion to London Gatwick Airport. The aircraft’s speed was reduced to 270 kt, and the landing gear was recycled, but the issue persisted with EICAS cautions and no apparent impact on the landing gear. The commander ultimately diverted the aircraft for a landing at Gatwick, resulting in an overweight landing.

Description

The aircraft departed from Runway 24R at Manchester for a flight to Las Palmas (Canary Islands). On landing gear retraction, the Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS) displayed two caution messages, indicating ‘Gear Disagree’ and ‘Gear Doors’. These were accompanied by an abnormal ambient airflow noise. The indications implied that the landing gear had not properly retracted, so the flight crew kept the aircraft’s speed below 270 kt, in accordance with the Quick Reference Handbook procedure. After consultation with company operations and engineering, the flight crew recycled the landing gear as the aircraft was climbing through FL90 at a speed of 250 kt. The recycling had no apparent effect on the landing gear status and the EICAS caution messages remained. The aircraft speed was limited to 270 kt/0.82 Mach in this configuration, so the commander elected to divert the aircraft for a landing at London Gatwick Airport, where engineering inspection facilities were available. ATC were informed of the nature of the problem and the aircraft made an uneventful overweight landing at Gatwick, some 4 tonnes above the normal maximum landing weight. Normal landing gear down and locked indications were obtained during the approach.

Primary Cause

Failure to properly retract landing gear during the retraction sequence.Failure to properly retract landing gear during the retraction sequence.

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