Czech Airlines Gear problem at DUB

[wotan]

taken from RTE wbsite this evening:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0205/ireland1.html
The Republic of Ireland's trip to San Marino has begun in farcical circumstances, with their plane forced to return to Dublin airport after 90 minutes in the air above the capital.
The pilot on the Czech Airlines flight to Rimini discovered he was unable to raise the undercarriage after taking off but could not land again immediately until a slot became available.
The passengers - including the Irish squad, Football Association of Ireland officials, media and fans - then had to wait on the runway until the fault was corrected.
It is thought a member of the ground crew failed to remove a pin from one of the wheels.
Lets hope the performance against the minnows on the pitch is better than the performance of the ground crew, and flight crew for not confirming pins out!!!

[woodpecker]

I wonder if the "slot" became available at about the time the aircraft reached the max landing weight!

[Global Pilot]

You know slots in Dublin are impossible to get your hands on and especially a slot after informing ATC you have a problem and wish to return to the airfied.

[Torque2]

I'm sure its part of the flight crew walk round checks and pre-start checks to ensure that the pins are removed? :}

[keep em flying]

A tech log entry would stop this every time, just laziness i'm afraid!

[nitro rig driver]

I'm not saying engineers are perfect but maybe this was a case of
"crew concept" and in this case didn't save any money

[VillWill]

Infact having first hand knowledge of this incident, a tech log entry was made by the engineer. And missed it would seem by the flightcrew on walkaround and tech log.

[LeadingEdge]

So you say that the crew missed the tech log entry and did not do a proper walkaround?

[aw8565]

With slots being that tight it was a shame the aircraft had to wait on the RUNWAY to have this problem fixed. Must have caused several go-arounds... :hmm:

[Bussdrvr]

I don't know what other airlines do, but on our airline's "Before Start" checklist there is a challenge "Gear Pins and Covers" with the response from the Captain being "Three on Board", where he has to physically see them as being stowed, (A300, A310). I don't know the type of aircraft that was used so they may have different procedures.
Was this done? I don't know. Did the gound crew have another pin inserted for the nose wheel for push back? It could not have been a towbar pin as those are welded to a chain that is welded to the towbar. Accurate information is needed before finger pointing starts.

[alexban]

Why would they have a pin,was it a night stop?
There is no chance for a forgotten steering pin,as they would not have been able to taxi to the rwy....unless,of course the tug left them straight on CL.
And I think I never saw a tech log entry regarding pin insertion during night stop.:ugh:
They didn't saw it? ...well ,maybe it is not common to insert locking pins during stops.We never do it on the 737 . So, yes ,we are not normally checking for the pins,except before departing base.

[VillWill]

A/c was on nightstop and had been towed the night before departure, hence the presence of a nose gear pin. Not saying that crew didnt do a walkaround but IF they did then the pin was missed by them. And any tech log entry that remains open before departure should be addressed.

[FlightDetent]

Adressed by approved ground personnel who inserted the pin in first place! As per CSA Ground Operations Manual that should be followed in accordance with company policy and out-stations contracts.

I believe this will show to be a communications break-down in broader sense. Even with lot of finger pointing, no victims. Which is good. Did you know, that Airbus FCOM 1 (the pilot's system book) does not mention/depict the pins at all?

My thoughts are with the pilot reading the check-list, response is "removed" by looking at pin stowage box and seeing it full. The check-list logic is based on all pins out/all pins in logic. Logic that is flawed if only one pin us used.

FD.

[Captain Greaser]

With the current performance of the Irish squad so direr,it probably would have been alot better if they never got a slot and were just left in the hold forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:O

[VillWill]

As you say FlightDetent, no victims, which is the most important thing.:D