Narrative:

I arrived at the gate in ZZZ and was informed by the gate agent that the aircraft would be towed to the gate from remote parking. Once the aircraft arrived at the gate; I placed my baggage on board the aircraft and began performing my preflight duties. I did the originating walkaround as I normally do. During the preflight; I noticed the captain walking around the nose of the aircraft with the pump handle in hand. I told him 'I'll get it.' I then pumped up the brake pressure and continued my preflight. I remember preflighting the nose and nose gear area very well because the tug and towbar were still attached to the aircraft. I usually run my hand over the nose gear locking pin to ensure it's stowed properly. I then entered the aircraft to complete the rest of the originating checks. Aircraft was powered off the gate. Taxi out and takeoff were normal until the captain called for gear up. I selected the gear up. A few seconds later; we got the 3 amber door lights; 1 nose gear green light; and 1 nose gear red unsafe light. The captain asked me to check the landing gear 'altitude' release and extension door to ensure they were fully closed; and they were. We then continued on with the emergency checklist; asking for vectors while we tried to figure out what we were dealing with. ATC advised us that our nose gear appeared to be in the down position. We agreed; asking for vectors while we attempted to contact dispatch and maintenance control for help or guidance. After many unsuccessful SELCAL attempts from different stations; we tried my cell phone. We were able to reach dispatch in very short intervals because the calls kept getting dropped. I then called ZZZ operations who I communicated through to maintenance control. After communicating with maintenance control and knowing what the problem might be; it was decided that we would extend the gear in order to get 3 green lights. Somewhere in the middle of all this radio swapping and cell phone calls; we prematurely declared an emergency. After extending the gear and positively identifying that we had 3 wheels down and locked; we did not feel as if we were in an emergency situation anymore and could continue to ZZZ1 gear down. Enroute; approach and landing were normal. Arriving at the gate; I got out and found the nose gear locking pin in the out position. Lessons learned: I accepted full responsibility for missing the position of the nose gear locking pin during my walkaround. I feel if I would have paid closer attention to detail by stopping and thinking about the fact that we have not operated into ZZZ in years and the ground crews may not be familiar with our procedures; I might have been able to trap this error.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After takeoff Bombardier Dash 8 First Officer is unable to raise the nose gear. Post flight inspection reveals that the nose gear locking pin is engaged.

Narrative: I arrived at the gate in ZZZ and was informed by the Gate Agent that the aircraft would be towed to the gate from remote parking. Once the aircraft arrived at the gate; I placed my baggage on board the aircraft and began performing my preflight duties. I did the originating walkaround as I normally do. During the preflight; I noticed the Captain walking around the nose of the aircraft with the pump handle in hand. I told him 'I'll get it.' I then pumped up the brake pressure and continued my preflight. I remember preflighting the nose and nose gear area very well because the tug and towbar were still attached to the aircraft. I usually run my hand over the nose gear locking pin to ensure it's stowed properly. I then entered the aircraft to complete the rest of the originating checks. Aircraft was powered off the gate. Taxi out and takeoff were normal until the Captain called for gear up. I selected the gear up. A few seconds later; we got the 3 amber door lights; 1 nose gear green light; and 1 nose gear red unsafe light. The Captain asked me to check the landing gear 'ALT' release and extension door to ensure they were fully closed; and they were. We then continued on with the emergency checklist; asking for vectors while we tried to figure out what we were dealing with. ATC advised us that our nose gear appeared to be in the down position. We agreed; asking for vectors while we attempted to contact Dispatch and Maintenance Control for help or guidance. After many unsuccessful SELCAL attempts from different stations; we tried my cell phone. We were able to reach Dispatch in very short intervals because the calls kept getting dropped. I then called ZZZ Operations who I communicated through to Maintenance Control. After communicating with Maintenance Control and knowing what the problem might be; it was decided that we would extend the gear in order to get 3 green lights. Somewhere in the middle of all this radio swapping and cell phone calls; we prematurely declared an emergency. After extending the gear and positively identifying that we had 3 wheels down and locked; we did not feel as if we were in an emergency situation anymore and could continue to ZZZ1 gear down. Enroute; approach and landing were normal. Arriving at the gate; I got out and found the nose gear locking pin in the out position. Lessons Learned: I accepted full responsibility for missing the position of the nose gear locking pin during my walkaround. I feel if I would have paid closer attention to detail by stopping and thinking about the fact that we have not operated into ZZZ in years and the ground crews may not be familiar with our procedures; I might have been able to trap this error.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.