Commuter flight must return land due to nose gear failure to lock in up position.

Attributes
ACN	228588
Time
Date	199212
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : bgm
State Reference	NY
Altitude	msl bound lower : 1600 msl bound upper : 1600
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : bgm
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Transport, High Wing, 2 Turboprop Eng
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 210 flight time total : 19500 flight time type : 900
ASRS Report	228588
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Commuter flight, mdt taxied out for departure after requiring deice for the first flight of the day. After takeoff the gear was retracted but the nose wheel had not locked up and the main gear rear doors remained down. Cycled gear down and up once with same result. Advised departure that we were returning to bgm and no services were required. Upon inspection of aircraft we found the nose gear locking pin was popped out but not rotated to the latched position. We believe that the snow and ice on the spring mechanism prevented the locking device from latching fully into its stowed position and vibrated out during taxi or takeoff. Conclusions: when snow and ice are present mdt crews should triple check that locking pin is properly stowed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: COMMUTER FLT MUST RETURN LAND DUE TO NOSE GEAR FAILURE TO LOCK IN UP POS.

Narrative: COMMUTER FLT, MDT TAXIED OUT FOR DEP AFTER REQUIRING DEICE FOR THE FIRST FLT OF THE DAY. AFTER TKOF THE GEAR WAS RETRACTED BUT THE NOSE WHEEL HAD NOT LOCKED UP AND THE MAIN GEAR REAR DOORS REMAINED DOWN. CYCLED GEAR DOWN AND UP ONCE WITH SAME RESULT. ADVISED DEP THAT WE WERE RETURNING TO BGM AND NO SVCS WERE REQUIRED. UPON INSPECTION OF ACFT WE FOUND THE NOSE GEAR LOCKING PIN WAS POPPED OUT BUT NOT ROTATED TO THE LATCHED POS. WE BELIEVE THAT THE SNOW AND ICE ON THE SPRING MECHANISM PREVENTED THE LOCKING DEVICE FROM LATCHING FULLY INTO ITS STOWED POS AND VIBRATED OUT DURING TAXI OR TKOF. CONCLUSIONS: WHEN SNOW AND ICE ARE PRESENT MDT CREWS SHOULD TRIPLE CHK THAT LOCKING PIN IS PROPERLY STOWED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.