B767 flight crew reported landing gear and gear door anomaly upon gear retraction during climbout. Flight crew was able to extend gear normally and returned to departure airport where after landing damage to landing gear and brakes was found.
Synopsis
B767 flight crew reported landing gear and gear door anomaly upon gear retraction during climbout. Flight crew was able to extend gear normally and returned to departure airport where after landing damage to landing gear and brakes was found.
Narrative
I was PF. Takeoff on XXR was normal. PM called positive rate and I called for gear up. A few seconds later we got a master caution which I silenced. The gear handle was in the up position. EICAS showed Gear Disagree and Gear Doors. At this point I called for autopilot center command. We decided to clean up the flaps. I bugged 230 on the speed which was about 8 knots above clean maneuvering speed. We were handed off to departure who gave us a climb to 10000. The PM got out the checklist for Gear Disagree and read through it. At one point he put the gear handle to off to see if the messages would change. This resulted in getting a left main gear green; down and locked indication. Upon putting the handle back to up position the left main light extinguished. Through all of that the original EICAS messages remained. We were handed off to ZZZ center and given a climb to 14;000. The PM informed them we were working a gear issue. The PM gave me the primary radio while he used comm 2 to call back to Company and talk with dispatch and maintenance. We decided to maintain 14000 and I informed ZZZ [Center] of our request. After talking to maintenance and Dispatch the Captain (PM) recommended to Dispatch that we return to ZZZ which they agreed with. PM took back talking to ATC and request a RTB and delay vectors to complete the checklist and have time for manual gear extension if that became necessary. On downwind we slowed and configured to flaps 5. We then lowered the gear. The left main indicated almost immediately followed by the nose and several seconds later the right main. We chose not to declare an emergency at this point since we had 3 good gear indications. Vectors were to about 30 miles south of ZZZ due to active special use airspace. We planned and briefed a 30 flap; manual braking and max reverse landing. We came back in on the ILS XXL. Approach and landing appeared normal from our perspective. The captain took the plane at 60 knots and cleared the runway at [taxiway] 1. Tower had not said anything so I inquired about taxi instructions. Tower informed us we had lots of sparks on touchdown and ask us to hold our position so CFR (which was waiting on our arrival) could inspect our aircraft. We had to move forward a little bit to be fully on the parallel taxiway 2. Upon request of CFR we started our APU and shutdown both engines. It was determined we were dragging metal parts of the left main and had severed brake lines. We called the company to tow us into parking.
Second reporter narrative
Normal FOs takeoff from runway XXR. Gear handle operated normally to Up position. Shortly after takeoff; during the climbout; EICAS messages Gear Disagree and Gear Doors. We decided to clean up flaps on schedule and bug just above clean manuevering speed. I think we bugged 230. We were quickly handed off to departure and ZZZ center while on the Strep 5 departure to climb and maintain 14;000. We decided to inform ZZZ [Center] of the gear problem and the need to maintain 14000 while we worked the problem. I located the appropriate Gear Disagree checklist and ran it down to step X which is; When gear extension is needed.At this point I contacted ups on comm 2 while FO flew the aircraft and handled comm 1. Upon taking to maintenance and explaining the issue and although I felt there was a gear issue it did not feel like the gear was still hanging in the down position; but when I put the gear handle in the off position; the left green gear indicator immediately came on. Maintenance felt continuing to ZZZ1 was the proper course of action but I could make that decision with the dispatcher and management. I disagreed and asked for both of them to join the discussion. After a short pause they informed me a decision had been made to have us return to ZZZ.We informed ZZZ center of our need to return to ZZZ. When asked I informed them we were not declaring an emergency at this time but it could change if the gear did not come down normally. We received the amended release; and headed back towards ZZZ for an ILS to XXL. I told ZZZ approach we would need a longer than normal final or delay vectors in the event we needed to manually lower the gear. Due to an active military airspace south west of the field they said it would be a 35 mile final. We configured to flaps 5 and then continued the checklist. The gear came down normally; although again it seemed like the left main gear green light came on immediately. That ended the checklist and with no other indications we decided it was unnecessary to declare an emergency. We briefed the approach for a flaps 30 landing; no auto brakes and max reversers. It was the Captain's leg and I elected to let her do the landing so I could keep an eye on the big picture. She touched down very smoothly and with no abnormal effects I took the aircraft at 60 kits and exited XXL at [taxiway] 1. As we were exiting the runway; CFR rescue vehicles advised tower there were lots of sparks coming from the left engine or gear. We came to a stop on taxiway 2 to allow CFR to inspect the aircraft. They requested we shut down engines to do their inspection. So I asked if they had enough room behind us and the runway or should we move up before shutting down engines. They asked me to move forward slightly farther and we did; then fired up the APU and shut down engines. After a short inspection they felt we should be towed in due to obvious damage to some brake lines. We notified company and they sent out a tug to pin the gear and tow us to ramp.After returning to the ramp I contacted crew scheduling. They wanted us to tail swap and continue 4 hrs to ZZZ2. I felt I was unfit to complete that trip after this stressful event but I believe my call was coded as a fatigue call instead of incident response.After seeing the damage to the left gear and brakes I feel it would have been wise to alert the ZZZ tower sooner about the possibility of parts on the runway.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.