An Interesting Experience with Nose Landing Gear on 757-200
I wish to start by stating, that I write this only to share an interesting experience and is not an opinion on the Fedex 757 incident.
In Nov 2013, while doing a low drag ILS app into MUMBAI, I got the "Gear Unsafe" warning. The nose gear had no lights, red or green. Initiated a Go Around and by habit retracted the gear.
ATC vectored me to a safe space to the North to do the Checklist. At the end of Check List actions, we had the same situation, main gears down and nose remained up. Gear Unsafe was illuminated.Hydraulics were normal. So we appraised ATC of the impending nose wheel up landing and decided to orbit to burn some fuel. It also helped lots of incoming flights from the Gulf to land.
Now I must say something about my background. Ex Indian Air Force, lots of flying on the MIG 21s and later a Test Pilot. On the Migs, we had a compressed air system, which forced the gear down in case of an Hydraulic Failure. One day, we got a caution from the manufacturer, cautioning us not to use the emergency pneumatic system, if the hydraulics were normal. The explanation given was that, during retraction, may be due poor rigging, the gear may not get locked in the up lock, and when the "up "system gets de-energised, the gear tends to sag and rest on the gear doors. This messes up the sequence between the doors and the gear and gear may not come down.
The solution suggested, was to move the Gear Selector from Neutral to Up position rapidly and select Down without pausing in the Neutral. Kind of pulsing the gear up, before the down sequence is initiated.I wondered if the same solution would work on the 757! My hydraulics were normal and main gears were responding normally. I really couldn't see any problems, if my analysis was wrong. So reached across the FO, whom I was training and hit the selector on the Up Stop and without pausing at the Neutral, to the Down position. Remember telling him that I will explain my actions later. Reassuring "thud" and we had all greens!!!
Of course the management thought poorly of my unauthorised actions, till the man who converted us all, Capt Bellamy (ex BA and DHL) thought I should be rewarded.
Happy Landings.