MD83 captain describes a landing gear indicator light failure that results in a go-around. A visual ...

Narrative:

While performing the before landing checklist we noticed the right main landing gear annunciator was out; no green or red light. I suspected it was a possible light bulb failure since we were not receiving any landing gear warnings. I tapped the light and did an annunciator test; but the light was still out. I told the first officer; pilot flying; that we will need to go-around; but first I wanted to do a low approach and confirm with the tower the gear was down. We followed the ILS to about 600 ft and got a report from a company aircraft holding short of the runway that the gear was down. We then executed a go-around and received vectors as we ran the QRH. I informed the flight attendants what happened and what we were going to do; also making a PA to the passengers. We conducted the visual gear inspection QRH checklist and the first officer confirmed the gear was down and locked by looking through the periscope in the cabin. We notified ATC we were confident the gear was locked down; but would declare an emergency anyway. I told the flight attendants and passengers it would be a normal landing and they would see emergency trucks. We landed uneventful and taxied to the gate after maintenance pinned the gear down.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD83 Captain describes a landing gear indicator light failure that results in a go-around. A visual inspection by the First Officer through the cabin periscope confirms the gear is down and a normal landing ensues.

Narrative: While performing the before landing checklist we noticed the right main landing gear annunciator was out; no green or red light. I suspected it was a possible light bulb failure since we were not receiving any landing gear warnings. I tapped the light and did an annunciator test; but the light was still out. I told the first officer; pilot flying; that we will need to go-around; but first I wanted to do a low approach and confirm with the Tower the gear was down. We followed the ILS to about 600 FT and got a report from a company aircraft holding short of the runway that the gear was down. We then executed a go-around and received vectors as we ran the QRH. I informed the flight attendants what happened and what we were going to do; also making a PA to the passengers. We conducted the visual gear inspection QRH checklist and the First Officer confirmed the gear was down and locked by looking through the periscope in the cabin. We notified ATC we were confident the gear was locked down; but would declare an emergency anyway. I told the flight attendants and passengers it would be a normal landing and they would see emergency trucks. We landed uneventful and taxied to the gate after Maintenance pinned the gear down.

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.

Attributes
ACN	981498
Time
Date	201111
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-83
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Indicating and Warning - Landing Gear
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

MD83 captain describes a landing gear indicator light failure that results in a go-around. A visual inspection by the first officer through the cabin periscope confirms the gear is down and a normal landing ensues.