Narrative:

Upon retraction of landing gear; at the end of what appeared to be a normal retraction cycle; heard and felt a repeating bump from what felt like the left main gear as it tried to up-lock and stow in the wheel well. The EICAS indicated a malfunction; indicated by the icon for the left main gear cycled between the green 'up' indication in a green box; cycling between the yellow hashed 'in transit' indication in sequence with the bump we could feel from the flight deck. We then moved the gear handle to the 'down' position and the gear extended normally. We tried retracting the gear once more with the exact same result. We then extended the gear again; and again all 3 extended and locked in place normally and we left them extended for the duration of the flight. We then declared an emergency with ATC and notified them that we needed to burn off fuel to reach a safe landing weight and coordinated a return. Next contacted dispatch; maintenance; the flight attendants; and made periodic updates over the PA to the passengers. Once a safe landing weight was reached; we returned for an uneventful landing. After coming to a stop on the runway; maintenance inspected the aircraft and pinned the gear in position and we taxied to our assigned gate. Supplemental information from acn 816015: we took off and captain called for landing gear up. I brought the gear up and there was a thud on the left side of the aircraft that repeated several times. Looking at the gear indication which showed 'up' but momentarily flashed in-transit on the left main; I realized we had a landing gear retraction issue. We dropped the gear back down and it indicated down and locked. Climbed to a safe altitude and then we pulled the quick reference handbook for a landing gear retraction problem. There was no such procedure in the quick reference handbook. We in turn tried to cycle the gear; with the same result. Once again dropped the gear and left it down and locked. Notified ATC and declared an emergency. We received vectors from ATC and flew around for about an hour to burn off fuel to get below landing weight. Captain informed flight attendants and advised passengers of our problem and also contacted dispatch. I flew the aircraft and handled ATC radio calls. Maintenance advised captain to run abnormal landing checklist which we complied with. All checklists were completed and aircraft landed safely. Add landing gear retraction problem to quick reference handbook. Also; give flight crew 'mandatory day off' for time to recover from emergency. Dispatch tried to push flight crew right back into a trip as soon as aircraft landed. No time for recovery; lunch; restroom break; nothing. Was not professional in my opinion at all.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB170 flight crew reports failure of landing gear to retract properly after takeoff. Crew declares emergency and normal landing ensues after burning down to landing weight.

Narrative: Upon retraction of landing gear; at the end of what appeared to be a normal retraction cycle; heard and felt a repeating bump from what felt like the left main gear as it tried to up-lock and stow in the wheel well. The EICAS indicated a malfunction; indicated by the icon for the left main gear cycled between the green 'up' indication in a green box; cycling between the yellow hashed 'in transit' indication in sequence with the bump we could feel from the flight deck. We then moved the gear handle to the 'down' position and the gear extended normally. We tried retracting the gear once more with the exact same result. We then extended the gear again; and again all 3 extended and locked in place normally and we left them extended for the duration of the flight. We then declared an emergency with ATC and notified them that we needed to burn off fuel to reach a safe landing weight and coordinated a return. Next contacted Dispatch; Maintenance; the Flight Attendants; and made periodic updates over the PA to the passengers. Once a safe landing weight was reached; we returned for an uneventful landing. After coming to a stop on the runway; Maintenance inspected the aircraft and pinned the gear in position and we taxied to our assigned gate. Supplemental information from ACN 816015: We took off and Captain called for landing gear up. I brought the gear up and there was a thud on the left side of the aircraft that repeated several times. Looking at the gear indication which showed 'up' but momentarily flashed in-transit on the left main; I realized we had a landing gear retraction issue. We dropped the gear back down and it indicated down and locked. Climbed to a safe altitude and then we pulled the Quick Reference Handbook for a landing gear retraction problem. There was no such procedure in the Quick Reference Handbook. We in turn tried to cycle the gear; with the same result. Once again dropped the gear and left it down and locked. Notified ATC and declared an emergency. We received vectors from ATC and flew around for about an hour to burn off fuel to get below landing weight. Captain informed Flight Attendants and advised passengers of our problem and also contacted Dispatch. I flew the aircraft and handled ATC radio calls. Maintenance advised Captain to run abnormal landing checklist which we complied with. All checklists were completed and aircraft landed safely. Add landing gear retraction problem to Quick Reference Handbook. Also; give flight crew 'mandatory day off' for time to recover from emergency. Dispatch tried to push flight crew right back into a trip as soon as aircraft landed. No time for recovery; lunch; restroom break; nothing. Was not professional in my opinion at all.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.