Narrative:

Description of landing gear problem: we were returning from oakland oct/sun/00, arriving in the san diego area about xa:30 pm. Left and right seats were occupied by CFI's with nearly identical total time and time in type. I was flying left seat. About 15 mi out from montgomery field, I lowered the gear. Only one green light illuminated, the left main. I cycled the gear a few times with same result. At this point, we shared the flying/communication duties as the situation dictated, as part of our cockpit resource management. I broke out the manual and followed the emergency gear procedure. It lowered with the same result: one green light, left main. We called the tower and let them know the situation. I found the owner's phone number and we requested the tower to call him for suggestions. We did tower fly-bys for gear status checks, checked circuit breakers, panel lights and listened to suggestions from the owner. We also contacted him directly by cell phone. At some point the right main light illuminated. A malibu pilot (with high time in malibu's) overheard the situation, and took off, offering his assistance. Both tower and second plane indicated that the nose wheel appeared to be extended. We tried to dive and pull up to jerk the gear into place, a maneuver that had successfully worked for the other malibu pilot. After about 1.5 hours of problem solving we had two main wheel indicator lights showing, so we opted to make a controled landing while we still had some fuel available. We dead sticked in from final and made a smooth landing on the main wheels. We held the stick back until the nose eventually settled, paused for a second at horizontal, then continued down to the ground. Except for the awful grinding noise it was all very smooth. We quickly exited the plane. Both montgomery personnel and the other malibu pilot should be commended for their help in this situation. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: pilot indicated the initial problem was with a faulty circuit breaker for the electric motor that powers the hydraulic pump that operates the landing gear. The circuit breaker would not allow adequate current to flow to operate the electric motor. Pulling and resetting the circuit breaker was of no help. The emergency gear lowering system consists of bypassing the hydraulic system to allow the gear to free fall into place. The flight manual specifies a maximum permissible airspeed. This is because the nose gear is falling into the slip stream. In this case the pilot was well below the maximum specified speed, however the nose gear still would not lock into place. Other pilots have since told the pilot that speeds as slow as aircraft stall speed are required in order to get the nose wheel to lock down. The pilot thinks a much more positive system is required to insure a positive way to extend the gear. He suggests that a redesign of the landing gear is called for.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA-46 PLT WAS UNABLE TO EXTEND THE LNDG GEAR ON EITHER THE NORMAL SYS OR USING THE EMER GEAR EXTENSION SYS.

Narrative: DESCRIPTION OF LNDG GEAR PROB: WE WERE RETURNING FROM OAKLAND OCT/SUN/00, ARRIVING IN THE SAN DIEGO AREA ABOUT XA:30 PM. L AND R SEATS WERE OCCUPIED BY CFI'S WITH NEARLY IDENTICAL TOTAL TIME AND TIME IN TYPE. I WAS FLYING L SEAT. ABOUT 15 MI OUT FROM MONTGOMERY FIELD, I LOWERED THE GEAR. ONLY ONE GREEN LIGHT ILLUMINATED, THE LEFT MAIN. I CYCLED THE GEAR A FEW TIMES WITH SAME RESULT. AT THIS POINT, WE SHARED THE FLYING/COM DUTIES AS THE SIT DICTATED, AS PART OF OUR COCKPIT RESOURCE MGMNT. I BROKE OUT THE MANUAL AND FOLLOWED THE EMER GEAR PROC. IT LOWERED WITH THE SAME RESULT: ONE GREEN LIGHT, L MAIN. WE CALLED THE TWR AND LET THEM KNOW THE SIT. I FOUND THE OWNER'S PHONE NUMBER AND WE REQUESTED THE TWR TO CALL HIM FOR SUGGESTIONS. WE DID TWR FLY-BYS FOR GEAR STATUS CHECKS, CHKED CIRCUIT BREAKERS, PANEL LIGHTS AND LISTENED TO SUGGESTIONS FROM THE OWNER. WE ALSO CONTACTED HIM DIRECTLY BY CELL PHONE. AT SOME POINT THE R MAIN LIGHT ILLUMINATED. A MALIBU PLT (WITH HIGH TIME IN MALIBU'S) OVERHEARD THE SIT, AND TOOK OFF, OFFERING HIS ASSISTANCE. BOTH TWR AND SECOND PLANE INDICATED THAT THE NOSE WHEEL APPEARED TO BE EXTENDED. WE TRIED TO DIVE AND PULL UP TO JERK THE GEAR INTO PLACE, A MANEUVER THAT HAD SUCCESSFULLY WORKED FOR THE OTHER MALIBU PLT. AFTER ABOUT 1.5 HRS OF PROB SOLVING WE HAD TWO MAIN WHEEL INDICATOR LIGHTS SHOWING, SO WE OPTED TO MAKE A CTLED LNDG WHILE WE STILL HAD SOME FUEL AVAILABLE. WE DEAD STICKED IN FROM FINAL AND MADE A SMOOTH LNDG ON THE MAIN WHEELS. WE HELD THE STICK BACK UNTIL THE NOSE EVENTUALLY SETTLED, PAUSED FOR A SEC AT HORIZONTAL, THEN CONTINUED DOWN TO THE GND. EXCEPT FOR THE AWFUL GRINDING NOISE IT WAS ALL VERY SMOOTH. WE QUICKLY EXITED THE PLANE. BOTH MONTGOMERY PERSONNEL AND THE OTHER MALIBU PLT SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR THEIR HELP IN THIS SIT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: PLT INDICATED THE INITIAL PROB WAS WITH A FAULTY CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR THE ELECTRIC MOTOR THAT POWERS THE HYD PUMP THAT OPERATES THE LNDG GEAR. THE CB WOULD NOT ALLOW ADEQUATE CURRENT TO FLOW TO OPERATE THE ELECTRIC MOTOR. PULLING AND RESETTING THE CB WAS OF NO HELP. THE EMER GEAR LOWERING SYS CONSISTS OF BYPASSING THE HYD SYS TO ALLOW THE GEAR TO FREE FALL INTO PLACE. THE FLT MANUAL SPECIFIES A MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE AIRSPEED. THIS IS BECAUSE THE NOSE GEAR IS FALLING INTO THE SLIP STREAM. IN THIS CASE THE PLT WAS WELL BELOW THE MAXIMUM SPECIFIED SPEED, HOWEVER THE NOSE GEAR STILL WOULD NOT LOCK INTO PLACE. OTHER PLTS HAVE SINCE TOLD THE PLT THAT SPEEDS AS SLOW AS ACFT STALL SPEED ARE REQUIRED IN ORDER TO GET THE NOSE WHEEL TO LOCK DOWN. THE PLT THINKS A MUCH MORE POSITIVE SYS IS REQUIRED TO INSURE A POSITIVE WAY TO EXTEND THE GEAR. HE SUGGESTS THAT A REDESIGN OF THE LNDG GEAR IS CALLED FOR.

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.