A PA34 instructor pilot reported 'gear in transit' light remained illuminated after takeoff; and a f...

Narrative:

Gear in transit light stayed illuminated after gear retraction on initial takeoff. Crew went to practice area to trouble shoot. Crew consulted poh for recommendations. Gear was recycled several times to include manual extensions with various G loadings (up to approximately 2G) and airspeeds of approximately 80 KIAS. All extensions resulted in partial extension of nose gear. A gear check was accomplished by flight school's chief instructor who confirmed partial nose gear extension. Emergency was declared with tower. Aircraft was flown-by tower who confirmed partial nose gear extension. The door to aircraft was opened before landings to ensure ability to egress aircraft. [Two] attempts were made to bounce the nose gear into place with firm touch and go landings to no avail. Crew elected to full stop aircraft. Upon landing; mixtures were pulled lean; fuel was shut off and master switch was turned off. When nose was lowered the nose gear collapsed and aircraft stopped straight ahead on the runway. Crew egressed as briefed in flight. No injures to personnel.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA34 Instructor pilot reported 'Gear In Transit' light remained illuminated after takeoff; and a fly-by showed a partially retracted nose gear. After landing nose gear collapsed.

Narrative: Gear in Transit light stayed illuminated after gear retraction on initial takeoff. Crew went to practice area to trouble shoot. Crew consulted POH for recommendations. Gear was recycled several times to include manual extensions with various G loadings (up to approximately 2G) and airspeeds of approximately 80 KIAS. All extensions resulted in partial extension of nose gear. A gear check was accomplished by flight school's Chief Instructor who confirmed partial nose gear extension. Emergency was declared with Tower. Aircraft was flown-by Tower who confirmed partial nose gear extension. The door to aircraft was opened before landings to ensure ability to egress aircraft. [Two] attempts were made to bounce the nose gear into place with firm touch and go landings to no avail. Crew elected to full stop aircraft. Upon landing; mixtures were pulled lean; fuel was shut off and master switch was turned off. When nose was lowered the nose gear collapsed and aircraft stopped straight ahead on the runway. Crew egressed as briefed in flight. No injures to personnel.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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	990561
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-34-200T Turbo Seneca II
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear
Person 1
Function	Instructor
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 6307 Flight Crew Type 340
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

A PA34 instructor pilot reported 'gear in transit' light remained illuminated after takeoff; and a fly-by showed a partially retracted nose gear. After landing nose gear collapsed.