Narrative:

On departure; after a normal takeoff roll and rotation upon landing gear retraction; the nose gear unsafe light illuminated. The nose gear unsafe position was verified on the gear synoptic as well. Departure control was notified and the crew requested a lower level off (5;000 feet) a reduced speed (200 kts.) and a vector clear of departures. Maintenance was contacted to discuss our situation. The gear was cycled with no change to the nose gear indication. At this point with the gear handle down the QRH procedure 'gear unsafe indication with gear handle down' was followed; this also did not correct the problem. With sunset approaching the crew decided to execute a low approach along [the] runway to have tower and [maintenance] visually check the nose gear position. After the low approach both the tower and [maintenance] reported that the gear appeared down.after the low approach we again received vectors southwest of the airport to confer with [maintenance] and operations. It was decided to return for a landing. The captain now became the flying pilot; the ILS was loaded and reviewed and all appropriate checklists were completed (including QRH procedure landing with abnormal landing gear configuration). The approach; landing and rollout were uneventful and normal. The aircraft was able to taxi back to the gate under its own power. After shutdown [maintenance] was able to determine that part of a nose gear position sensor had broken off its bracket and fallen off sometime during the gear retraction sequence.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD-11 First Officer reported returning to departure airport after experiencing a nose gear unsafe light. Problem was later traced to the nose gear position sensor.

Narrative: On departure; after a normal takeoff roll and rotation upon landing gear retraction; the nose gear unsafe light illuminated. The nose gear unsafe position was verified on the gear synoptic as well. Departure Control was notified and the crew requested a lower level off (5;000 feet) a reduced speed (200 kts.) and a vector clear of departures. Maintenance was contacted to discuss our situation. The gear was cycled with no change to the nose gear indication. At this point with the gear handle down the QRH procedure 'GEAR UNSAFE INDICATION WITH GEAR HANDLE DOWN' was followed; this also did not correct the problem. With sunset approaching the crew decided to execute a low approach along [the] runway to have Tower and [Maintenance] visually check the nose gear position. After the low approach both the Tower and [Maintenance] reported that the gear appeared down.After the low approach we again received vectors southwest of the airport to confer with [Maintenance] and Operations. It was decided to return for a landing. The Captain now became the flying pilot; the ILS was loaded and reviewed and all appropriate checklists were completed (including QRH procedure LANDING WITH ABNORMAL LANDING GEAR CONFIGURATION). The approach; landing and rollout were uneventful and normal. The aircraft was able to taxi back to the gate under its own power. After shutdown [Maintenance] was able to determine that part of a nose gear position sensor had broken off its bracket and fallen off sometime during the gear retraction sequence.

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.