Evening flight into Nashville in a DC9-31 late winter 1975. Nose gear wouldn't come down. Every procedure was carried out. We flew east of Nashville to try plan "B" (not found in any manual). The passengers were told that we were going to do a maneuver that would press them down in their seats, but to not be alarmed. We then made a "smooth" 3G pullup. Out came the nose gear with a wham. Later investigation confirmed our suspicion that the nosegear uplock simply had frozen with some ice. The ice of course had later melted, but the area was wet and very cold when we landed.
Experience is a great teacher. Don't ding an airplane if any other solution remains plausible. I am not potshotting the crew of AAL; my comment is just to always evaluate any possibility outside what the FAA and company manual dictate. That's what we're paid for......
