Aircraft and Flight Details
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-136, registration G-BBPU, manufactured in 1974. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A turbofan engines. The flight was a public transport operation with 18 crew and 220 passengers on board. No injuries to crew or passengers were reported. The damage was limited to the landing gear bay.
The commander, aged 48, held an Airline Transport Pilot's Licence and had accumulated 13,483 total flying hours, including 644 hours on type. The incident occurred on 8 February 1998 at 0001 hours UTC (1901 hours local time) during takeoff from Runway 13L at John F. Kennedy Airport, USA.
Incident Description
After lift-off, the commander, who was handling the aircraft, instructed the co-pilot to raise the landing gear. The co-pilot attempted to move the landing gear lever but found it would not move beyond the OFF position because the lever latch was engaged. Without consulting the commander, the flight engineer, or the aircraft manuals, the co-pilot immediately withdrew the latch and raised the lever to the UP position.
The landing gear retracted, but one red gear light remained illuminated and one gear door stayed open. The commander decided to climb to a medium altitude, jettison fuel, lower the landing gear, and return to JFK airport. The landing was uneventful; before clearing the runway, the aircraft was inspected and the gear downlocks were fitted before taxiing to the stand.
Cause of the Problem
The co-pilot had initially been unable to raise the landing gear lever because one of the main wheel trucks had not tilted sufficiently to trigger the TILT sensor. Consequently, that leg did not fully retract and damaged the gear bay.
Contributory Factors
The co-pilot, who was very experienced, could not explain his reaction, which was out of character. The commander thought that the crew headsets may have been a small contributory factor. The crew were wearing Active Noise Reduction (ANR) headsets, which reduce ambient noise but apparently make it more difficult for crew members to hear each other on the intercom. The operator was aware of this problem and was conducting trials of a different type of ANR headset.