Narrative:

After the 'gear up' call on takeoff; we received a gear unsafe indication on ED1 and noticed that it was referring to the nose gear. The captain was pilot not flying; I was pilot flying. We immediately leveled off at 3;000 feet MSL and maintained airspeed at 200 KIAS and the captain immediately advised ATC of the situation. The captain then ran the emergency checklist for a gear unsafe indication while I flew the plane and maintained contact with ATC. The captain; under direction of the checklist; extended all gear using the emergency extension handle and all gear came down and locked with a three green indication. The captain then did an excellent job managing the situation while advising the company and ATC of our specific requirements and intentions. He kept the passengers informed and conferred with maintenance to address the problem as thoroughly as possible. We then elected to accept vectors from ATC for a time period sufficient to burn fuel to put us under our maximum landing weight. Also the captain advised ATC that they should notify the airport fire/rescue to be on hand during our landing as a precautionary measure. Once all checklists were completed and our gross weight was below maximum landing; we briefed the approach; advised ATC once again of our intentions and transferred controls so the captain could execute the landing. The landing was uneventful and the captain elected to turn off the runway using rudder for directional steering. We then came to a stop just off the runway; advised crash and rescue that they were no longer needed and awaited a tow from ground support.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ200 First Officer and Dispatcher report on an unsafe up nose gear indication and return to departure airport.

Narrative: After the 'gear up' call on takeoff; we received a gear unsafe indication on ED1 and noticed that it was referring to the nose gear. The Captain was pilot not flying; I was pilot flying. We immediately leveled off at 3;000 feet MSL and maintained airspeed at 200 KIAS and the Captain immediately advised ATC of the situation. The Captain then ran the Emergency Checklist for a gear unsafe indication while I flew the plane and maintained contact with ATC. The Captain; under direction of the checklist; extended all gear using the emergency extension handle and all gear came down and locked with a three green indication. The Captain then did an excellent job managing the situation while advising the company and ATC of our specific requirements and intentions. He kept the passengers informed and conferred with Maintenance to address the problem as thoroughly as possible. We then elected to accept vectors from ATC for a time period sufficient to burn fuel to put us under our maximum landing weight. Also the Captain advised ATC that they should notify the airport fire/rescue to be on hand during our landing as a precautionary measure. Once all checklists were completed and our gross weight was below maximum landing; we briefed the approach; advised ATC once again of our intentions and transferred controls so the Captain could execute the landing. The landing was uneventful and the Captain elected to turn off the runway using rudder for directional steering. We then came to a stop just off the runway; advised crash and rescue that they were no longer needed and awaited a tow from ground support.

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.