Landing gear still down after takeoff?

[chadwick]

Probably letting the brakes cool before popping the gear in the bays.

How about just plain forgetting. Happened to a 76 crew about 6 years ago and left them down with parasitic D until they reached the west coast of Ireland! The words from the engineers on the RT were amusing if not colourful, to those who listened in on company RT it was hysterical to hear pathetic excuses once tech issues were ruled out!