Narrative:

The release was sent; we reviewed; and proceeded to the aircraft. I inspected the logbook and found that the plane had a fire extinguisher discharge light that had illuminated in flight. This event was documented in the logbook and subsequently addressed and fixed by maintenance. This discharge light illumination of the fire extinguisher was the only documented unscheduled maintenance action for the corresponding day. The corrective action for this write up was fixing wires for the extinguisher. After competing chronological duties; (aircraft acceptance; weather; clearance; loading passengers; etc...) we departed the gate on time for our destination. Everything up to the takeoff was completed without any abnormalities. We took off the active runway which resulted in the in transit light remaining illuminated for the landing gear. I notified tower that we had an abnormal indication and would keep them informed as to what was needed and what would transpire. We were then handed off to departure and assigned a heading of 080. The first officer was the flying pilot while I was the non flying pilot monitoring. The in transit light was addressed by the corresponding checklist. We were able to determine that the right main landing gear had not retracted. I then completed the checklist which resulted in the landing gear extending with 'three green' and all indications that the gear was extended and secure as normal. We contacted dispatch; advised them of the situation; and informed them of the events that had transpired. There was talk of recycling the gear which we declined. We as well as dispatch elected to return to the departure airport. Since all indications were now normal I did not declare an emergency. I contacted approach; who informed me that tower was declaring an emergency for me. All events following this were completed as normal. Upon returning to the gate and deplaning our passengers the first officer inspected the right main landing gear. Upon closer inspection it was noticed that there was a gear pin installed on the right main. The gear pin was removed by maintenance. There was zero documentation of gear pin(s) being installed that day for any reason. I feel that accurate documentation of any and all maintenance performed on the aircraft is a must. Work being performed without documentation can not be followed up by through preflight if areas of maintenance are not noted. This is especially important with items such as gear pins; panels; fuel filters; and other critical items on the aircraft. I was informed after the fact that my first officer was unfamiliar with what gear pins looked like. Preflight training with pictures and hands on experience are essential for detection of abnormal conditions. I believe that an initial walk around by both crew members will help in eliminating items that are not addressed on preflight. Items that are not normally observed on the aircraft will then be observed by both crew members in a system of checks and balances. I will be completing a preflight inspection as well as having my first officer complete a preflight inspection from now on to eliminate the possibility of future events and occurrences.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE1900 took off with the right main landing gear pin installed. The First Officer who performed the preflight; later admitted not knowing what a gear pin looked like. The flight returned to land.

Narrative: The release was sent; we reviewed; and proceeded to the aircraft. I inspected the logbook and found that the plane had a fire extinguisher discharge light that had illuminated in flight. This event was documented in the logbook and subsequently addressed and fixed by maintenance. This discharge light illumination of the fire extinguisher was the only documented unscheduled maintenance action for the corresponding day. The corrective action for this write up was fixing wires for the extinguisher. After competing chronological duties; (aircraft acceptance; weather; Clearance; loading passengers; etc...) we departed the gate on time for our destination. Everything up to the takeoff was completed without any abnormalities. We took off the active runway which resulted in the in transit light remaining illuminated for the landing gear. I notified Tower that we had an abnormal indication and would keep them informed as to what was needed and what would transpire. We were then handed off to departure and assigned a heading of 080. The First Officer was the flying pilot while I was the non flying pilot monitoring. The in transit light was addressed by the corresponding checklist. We were able to determine that the right main landing gear had not retracted. I then completed the checklist which resulted in the landing gear extending with 'three green' and all indications that the gear was extended and secure as normal. We contacted dispatch; advised them of the situation; and informed them of the events that had transpired. There was talk of recycling the gear which we declined. We as well as dispatch elected to return to the departure airport. Since all indications were now normal I did not declare an emergency. I contacted Approach; who informed me that Tower was declaring an emergency for me. All events following this were completed as normal. Upon returning to the gate and deplaning our passengers the First Officer inspected the right main landing gear. Upon closer inspection it was noticed that there was a gear pin installed on the right main. The gear pin was removed by maintenance. There was zero documentation of gear pin(s) being installed that day for any reason. I feel that accurate documentation of any and all maintenance performed on the aircraft is a must. Work being performed without documentation can not be followed up by through preflight if areas of maintenance are not noted. This is especially important with items such as gear pins; panels; fuel filters; and other critical items on the aircraft. I was informed after the fact that my First Officer was unfamiliar with what gear pins looked like. Preflight training with pictures and hands on experience are essential for detection of abnormal conditions. I believe that an initial walk around by both crew members will help in eliminating items that are not addressed on preflight. Items that are not normally observed on the aircraft will then be observed by both crew members in a system of checks and balances. I will be completing a preflight inspection as well as having my First Officer complete a preflight inspection from now on to eliminate the possibility of future events and occurrences.

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.