B737-800 captain reported landing gear lever would not move from off position during approach. Crew ...

Narrative:

During approach the landing gear lever was jammed in the off position; we could not extend the gear normally. We informed ATC; executed a missed approach and declared an emergency. We were given vectors back for an approach with enough time to complete all checklists including the manual gear extension. With the gear extended manually and confirmed down and locked we completed a normal landing in visual conditions. We alerted the tower that we would not have nose wheel steering after landing as a result of the abnormal condition and would need assistance. The passengers were made aware of a technical problem with the gear lever. I informed them that I would be using an alternate method of lowering the landing gear; thanked them for their patience and reassured them that we would be making a normal landing. The airport did an outstanding job. Our passengers were deplaned and taken to the terminal by buses and the aircraft then towed to gate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 Captain reported landing gear lever would not move from off position during approach. Crew declared an emergency and extended landing gear using alternate system.

Narrative: During approach the landing gear lever was jammed in the off position; we could not extend the gear normally. We informed ATC; executed a missed approach and declared an emergency. We were given vectors back for an approach with enough time to complete all checklists including the manual gear extension. With the gear extended manually and confirmed down and locked we completed a normal landing in visual conditions. We alerted the Tower that we would not have nose wheel steering after landing as a result of the abnormal condition and would need assistance. The passengers were made aware of a technical problem with the gear lever. I informed them that I would be using an alternate method of lowering the landing gear; thanked them for their patience and reassured them that we would be making a normal landing. The airport did an outstanding job. Our passengers were deplaned and taken to the Terminal by buses and the aircraft then towed to gate.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1032035
Time
Date	201208
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Component
Aircraft Component	Gear Lever/Selector
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

B737-800 captain reported landing gear lever would not move from off position during approach. Crew declared an emergency and extended landing gear using alternate system.