A321 flight crew reported distractions from a wake turbulence encounter departing DFW contributed to their failure to raise the landing gear after takeoff. When the flight crew noticed the landing gear was still extended; they retracted it above the limiting speed.
Synopsis
A321 flight crew reported distractions from a wake turbulence encounter departing DFW contributed to their failure to raise the landing gear after takeoff. When the flight crew noticed the landing gear was still extended; they retracted it above the limiting speed.
Narrative
Immediately upon rotation we encountered twice the wake turbulence of a heavy aircraft that departed in front of us. As pilot flying I took corrective and evasive action; however this event was enough of a distraction that we missed the positive gear up call. We failed to notice the gear was still down and locked and cleaned the aircraft as we continued climbing. The PNF completed the after take off check list and we still didn't notice the gear had not been retracted. After several minutes into the climb I started to notice the slow rate of climb; the slow acceleration and unusual loud noise in the cockpit and realized the gear was still down. In my haste to correct the situation I asked the PNF to bring the gear up forgetting about our VRET (landing gear retraction speed) limitation. We brought the gear up above V RET. I reported the event in the AML and sent a code to maintenance so the aircraft could be inspected by maintenance technicians at our destination.Cause: Wake turbulence immediately after rotation was a big distraction. We were both wearing headsets which prevented us to notice the unusual noise in the flight deck right away. Emotions got the best out of me by urging me to correct the situation ASAP and forgetting about my limitation speed. We took off at max structural weight 204;000 lbs on a very hot day; under those conditions we expected the aircraft to be sluggish and climb at a slower rate of climb. PNF brand new hire with low time on the aircraft.Suggestions: Slow down my thought process even when under pressure.
Second reporter narrative
On departure out of DFW on Runway 18L immediately after rotation we were hit twice in quick succession with wake turbulence from a previous departing heavy jet which distracted us and caused the positive rate/gear up call to be missed which then led to us to make the initial climb out with the MLG still extended. We had anticipated the aircraft would be slow to climb and accelerate due to being close to max structural takeoff weight (204;000 lbs) and the current conditions at the field being hot; so the very slow climb and acceleration were expected. Due to this slow climb and acceleration it took a while to get to the flap retraction speed and after take off checklist which the landing gear position was missed again. When we realized the gear was still extended the PF made a gear up call and due to the surprise that the gear was extended we retracted the gear above the VRET (landing gear retraction speed limitation). We immediately made note that the limitation was exceeded and notified maintenance and made note of it in the aircraft AML for any follow up inspections when arriving at the destination airport. Cause: Some contributing factors would be the short taxi time and outside conditions. From Gate XX to 18L is a short taxi and we received the close out numbers somewhat late in the taxi which caused a rushed feeling when arriving at the runway. The wake turbulence that we encountered immediately after rotation caused distraction in the flight deck which made us miss the positive rate/gear up call. The check list overlooked the gear being extended due to confirmation bias of the gear never being out of position and we reinforced out confirmation bias of the slow climb and acceleration due to aircraft weight and outside temp being high. Suggestions: Always be diligent when verifying a flow with a checklist. Don't react too quickly when an issue was noticed so the correct procedure is followed to correct the error.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.