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A B737-300 flight crew failed to get gear safe indications before landing; performed a go around and performed appropriate QRH procedures including a flyby of the tower for visual inspection. After an uneventful landing they were embarrassed to discover the cockpit light dimming switch was in the 'dim' position and all lights had been properly illuminated...but to a level insufficient to overcome the ambient lighting.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 950790 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201105 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-300 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Indicating and Warning - Lighting Systems |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 277 Flight Crew Type 8100 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 259 Flight Crew Type 5500 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
While cross feeding enroute; I noticed that a fuel pump low pressure light that should have been illuminated was not. I thought that the pump was stuck on. Then on downwind to base for landing; when I selected gear down; we got no light indication although we did get the normal noise associated with the gear going down. I contacted dispatch and pulled out the QRH. Dispatch and maintenance directed us to comply with the QRH. I took the controls and had the first officer coordinate with the flight attendants to go back and check that the gear indicated down and locked.because we were showing a landing fuel of 4.5 after our go-around; I set up for a fly-by of the tower; and reviewed the QRH while the first officer was checking the gear. I remember going to the gear disagree checklist and thinking that didn't apply because we didn't have a disagree; we had no indication at all. When first officer verified that the gear was down and locked; I saw that there was a step in the manual extension checklist that said if we could verify that the gear was down and locked; land normally and stop. I missed note 1; however; which directs us to select bright on the bright/dim switch; and since the problem was a bad dim switch module; that would have solved our problem. But because I was looking at an arrival fuel of 3.9; I tried to accomplish all the important steps simultaneously; and ended up missing the step that would have fixed the problem.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-300 flight crew failed to get gear safe indications before landing; performed a go around and performed appropriate QRH procedures including a flyby of the Tower for visual inspection. After an uneventful landing they were embarrassed to discover the cockpit light dimming switch was in the 'dim' position and all lights had been properly illuminated...but to a level insufficient to overcome the ambient lighting.
Narrative: While cross feeding enroute; I noticed that a Fuel Pump Low Pressure light that should have been illuminated was not. I thought that the pump was stuck on. Then on downwind to base for landing; when I selected gear down; we got no light indication although we did get the normal noise associated with the gear going down. I contacted Dispatch and pulled out the QRH. Dispatch and Maintenance directed us to comply with the QRH. I took the controls and had the First Officer coordinate with the flight attendants to go back and check that the gear indicated down and locked.Because we were showing a landing fuel of 4.5 after our go-around; I set up for a fly-by of the Tower; and reviewed the QRH while the First Officer was checking the gear. I remember going to the Gear Disagree checklist and thinking that didn't apply because we didn't have a disagree; we had no indication at all. When First Officer verified that the gear was down and locked; I saw that there was a step in the Manual Extension checklist that said if we could verify that the gear was down and locked; land normally and stop. I missed note 1; however; which directs us to select bright on the bright/dim switch; and since the problem was a bad dim switch module; that would have solved our problem. But because I was looking at an arrival fuel of 3.9; I tried to accomplish all the important steps simultaneously; and ended up missing the step that would have fixed the problem.
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.