Narrative:

While flying with student on his commercial check ride prep flight; we had the right main gear light not on with the gear lever in the down position. During start up and taxi all three lights where indicating green. During all practice maneuvers all three lights where indicating gear down. During our final maneuver descent we had three greens again. The gear was cycled up and we flew back to the airport for pattern work; during that gear down before landing check list we noticed the right main not indicating down and locked. I pushed the bulb in to make sure the connection was good; still no light. Then I switched the bulbs from left and right; still no green on the right main gear indicator. The bulb that was removed from the right and installed in the left fear socket now shined bright. We knew it was not a connection or bulb issue. We were in range of tower so I called tower and asked if we can do a low approach to have them check the gear; tower controllers instructed us to fly at the tower after crossing the middle of runway 22. We did so; at that time the tower said 'that the gear appeared to be crooked'. We then flew to the west as tower told us no traffic in the area. I instructed student to maintain airspeed; altitude; and heading. I then went to the emergency section in the poh and referred to the emergency gear checklist. We went through both lists twice. We worked very well together and made sure every item was checked and double checked. We then cycled the gear three times and still no green at any time on the right gear indicator. We then went to emergency gear release checklist and preformed that accordingly. We still had no green on the right indicator. Student stated that he felt the rudder pedals kick when I pulled the emergency gear lever. I was not sure; but did feel a change in the aircraft but was unsure if it was turbulence. We then let tower know the current situation and they worked with us again to check the gear. At that time the on the low approach tower said 'your gear appears to be down.' we still had no green light on the right gear indicator. I did feel confident at that time that the gear was down; but still unsure. We made sure our seatbelts where locked and secured firmly. We briefed the emergency procedures to escape the aircraft. We brief our plan of action on working together to land the plane and walk away. We got cleared to land on runway 22 with the fire trucks in place. During short final we got rid of any non-essential items from the front part of the cockpit. I then unlatched the door and cracked it open slightly. We successfully landed as softly as possible and felt the gear touch and keep the plane up before engine power was removed. At no time during the [landing] did the right main light indicate locked and down. Once safely parked we reviewed our checklist and debriefed on how well we worked together and handled it as required. Must say on a personal note we both stayed very calm and did exactly what our training has taught us. I would fly with student any time and would be happy to have him fly my family. He is a great pilot and I was happy he was in the plane. We handled the situation. I would like to thank all the hard work of the good instructors. It payed off on that flight.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA-44 instructor pilot reported a main landing gear extension problem. The landing gear was extended using the emergency gear extension checklist; and a successful landing was accomplished.

Narrative: While flying with student on his commercial check ride prep flight; we had the right main gear light not on with the gear lever in the down position. During start up and taxi all three lights where indicating green. During all practice maneuvers all three lights where indicating gear down. During our final maneuver descent we had three greens again. The gear was cycled up and we flew back to the airport for pattern work; during that gear down before landing check list we noticed the right main not indicating down and locked. I pushed the bulb in to make sure the connection was good; still no light. Then I switched the bulbs from left and right; still no green on the right main gear indicator. The bulb that was removed from the right and installed in the left fear socket now shined bright. We knew it was not a connection or bulb issue. We were in range of tower so I called tower and asked if we can do a low approach to have them check the gear; tower controllers instructed us to fly at the tower after crossing the middle of Runway 22. We did so; at that time the tower said 'that the gear appeared to be crooked'. We then flew to the west as tower told us no traffic in the area. I instructed student to maintain Airspeed; Altitude; and heading. I then went to the emergency section in the POH and referred to the emergency gear checklist. We went through both lists twice. We worked very well together and made sure every item was checked and double checked. We then cycled the gear three times and still no green at any time on the right gear indicator. We then went to emergency gear release checklist and preformed that accordingly. We still had no green on the right indicator. Student stated that he felt the rudder pedals kick when I pulled the emergency gear lever. I was not sure; but did feel a change in the aircraft but was unsure if it was turbulence. We then let tower know the current situation and they worked with us again to check the gear. At that time the on the low approach tower said 'your gear appears to be down.' We still had no Green light on the right gear indicator. I did feel confident at that time that the gear was down; but still unsure. We made sure our seatbelts where locked and secured firmly. We briefed the emergency procedures to escape the aircraft. We brief our plan of action on working together to land the plane and walk away. We got cleared to land on Runway 22 with the fire trucks in place. During short final we got rid of any non-essential items from the front part of the cockpit. I then unlatched the door and cracked it open slightly. We successfully landed as softly as possible and felt the gear touch and keep the plane up before engine power was removed. At no time during the [landing] did the right main light indicate locked and down. Once safely parked we reviewed our checklist and debriefed on how well we worked together and handled it as required. Must say on a personal note we both stayed very calm and did exactly what our training has taught us. I would fly with student any time and would be happy to have him fly my family. He is a great pilot and I was happy he was in the plane. We handled the situation. I would like to thank all the hard work of the good instructors. It payed off on that flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.