MD-11 Captain and Dispatcher reported a hydraulic system malfunction during climb; resulting in a landing gear indication malfunction. The flight returned to the departure airport; landed safely; and were towed to the gate.
Synopsis
MD-11 Captain and Dispatcher reported a hydraulic system malfunction during climb; resulting in a landing gear indication malfunction. The flight returned to the departure airport; landed safely; and were towed to the gate.
Narrative
On departure; at gear retraction FO and I noted that the doors closing was a little louder than normal but not uncommon. Flap and slat retraction were uneventful. As we got cleared to climb and switch; we received the level 2 Hyd 3 Fail Caution. We asked ATC for a turn back towards the airport and got the QRH out. At first; I kept the airplane and radios and had the FO read through the checklist start to finish as it's a lot of notes; and cautions before any action. We verified that the Hyd 3 pumps had already been secured by the system controller and they had. Once we had the read through the checklist I gave the FO the airplane and radios to talk with Dispatch and Currently use Maintenance Control and go over our plan to make sure it tracked with what they wanted for the airplane. Comms were challenging as Sat Comm kept dropping. We ended up using radio freqs to establish comms; which was easier and faster than trying to ACARS all the info. We all agreed that coming back was the plan. When we commenced the rest of the Hyd 3 checklist to prepare for the Flaps 35/Ext landing we tried to extend the gear as per the QRH. Left and right main came down and turned green but the nose gear did not. After some comm delays we got the fleet cap; tech pilot patched in via radio and were able to have better comms. We tried some positive g loading and still no safe gear indication. Freight in 1L/R we thought blocked the sight tubes. It was recommended we do a low approach and have tower look for the nose gear as tech pilot was pretty sure the gear was down but that there was some damage that prevented the sensors from showing us a green indication. We agreed that this made sense with our situation. While getting set up for the low approach the FO went to the back after passing me controls to see if the sight tubes were visible. He was able to see them but what he saw didn't quite match the drawings in the procedure. Low approach was uneventful and tower advised that the nose gear appeared down. With this data; the tech pilot and our crew agreed that the nose gear was down and that the sensors were damaged. We continued with the QRH to lower the center gear and then the normal gear handle. We came back around for another approach to [runway] XXC which was uneventful. Light manual breaking; idle reverse and gently setting the nose down. Exited the runway to the left with the reduced NWS to the right. Shut down and were towed back to the gate after maintenance pinned the gear.Cause: Maintenance thinks that the actuator failed on retraction leading to the eventual loss of Hyd system 3.Suggestions: I'm not sure it can be unless there was some maintenance action previously done incorrectly or a bad part.
Second reporter narrative
On climbout crew heard a loud bang from nose gear area. Approximately 2 minutes later they received an alert for low pressure on the #3 hydraulic system. The flight contacted me on the dispatch frequency to advise above information. They planned to run the checklist and return to ZZZ [airport]. Management; Duty Officer; and maintenance advised. Confirmed with maintenance that they would need a tug to tow them back to the ramp due to limited nose wheel steering to the right. Maintenance to coordinate tow crew. The crew was unable to get a down and locked indication for the nose gear. Requested maintenance on the line. Maintenance unable to come up on frequency. Crew attempted to contact maintenance on frequency but were told to contact dispatch on our freq again. Crew requested a phone patch with Maintenance. Currently use Maintenance Control unable to use our freq. Multiple attempts at a SATCOM call with no joy. I then called ZZZ Radio to assist with a phone patch and had the flight come up on ZZZ Radio freq. I then conferenced in Person A and eventually Persona B to assist the crew. After unsuccessful trouble shooting the crew was able to do a low pass by the ZZZ tower for a visual confirmation that the gear appeared down. Crew remained in the pattern and made an uneventful landing on runway XXC.Cause: Loss of #3 hydraulic system and unsafe nose gear indication. Suggestions: SATCOM was unreliable. The only alternative was with ZZZ radio which requires to talk on the call and number to listen after a transmission on our end. This took a few minutes to explain to parties on the call and presented additional problems with communication. Flight management and flight tech support did an excellent job on the call and working through the concerns with the crew.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.