A md-83 landing gear indicating system malfunctioned after takeoff so an emergency was declared; the...

Narrative:

After taking off and raising the landing gear; the nose gear light remained red. When at a safe altitude; the captain (pilot flying) took the radios and asked me to accomplish the QRH procedures. After following QRH procedures and verifying that the light remained green with the gear extended; I retracted the gear and the light remained red. The captain transferred controls to me and made calls to dispatch; maintenance; and operations. It was decided to return to the departure airport. Announcements were made to the passengers after discussing the situation with the flight attendants. The captain and I discussed whether to declare an emergency. We decided that since all three lights and the pin indicated a safe gear in the extended position; we would only declare an emergency if the unsafe light was red with the gear extended. We decided to lower the gear early in the approach; which produced green lights on all three gears. A short time later; the nose gear light turned red and alternated red and green sporadically. Vectors were requested from ATC to 'break off' the approach to accomplish QRH procedures; and declared an emergency. After completing the QRH and the return checklist; we asked for vectors back to the approach and landed without further incident.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD-83 landing gear indicating system malfunctioned after takeoff so an emergency was declared; the QRH completed and; after an uneventful landing; a nose landing gear position fault was discovered.

Narrative: After taking off and raising the landing gear; the nose gear light remained red. When at a safe altitude; the Captain (pilot flying) took the radios and asked me to accomplish the QRH procedures. After following QRH procedures and verifying that the light remained green with the gear extended; I retracted the gear and the light remained red. The Captain transferred controls to me and made calls to Dispatch; Maintenance; and Operations. It was decided to return to the departure airport. Announcements were made to the passengers after discussing the situation with the flight attendants. The Captain and I discussed whether to declare an emergency. We decided that since all three lights and the pin indicated a safe gear in the extended position; we would only declare an emergency if the unsafe light was red with the gear extended. We decided to lower the gear early in the approach; which produced green lights on all three gears. A short time later; the nose gear light turned red and alternated red and green sporadically. Vectors were requested from ATC to 'break off' the approach to accomplish QRH procedures; and declared an emergency. After completing the QRH and the return checklist; we asked for vectors back to the approach and landed without further incident.

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	1035829
Time
Date	201209
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-83
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Landing Gear Indicating System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

A md-83 landing gear indicating system malfunctioned after takeoff so an emergency was declared; the QRH completed and; after an uneventful landing; a nose landing gear position fault was discovered.