Narrative:

On approach to landing the right main gear indicator failed to illuminate. I advised the tower and started climb to a safe altitude. Tower advised that it appeared that the right main gear was not fully extended. I advised tower that I intended to climb to a safe altitude and perform an emergency gear extension. Tower advised me to fly a heading of 140 then sent me back over to approach control. After establishing radio contact with approach; I attempted a manual gear extension. Emergency procedures where followed from the poh. After the procedure the right main gear light was still out. I advised ATC that I wanted to return to my base airport. A new code was issued and I remained on VFR flight following. I made contact with approach and advised them of my situation. I advised that I wanted to attempt a second gear extension before switching over to approach; this channel is extremely busy. Controller asked if I want to declare an emergency; I declined at that time. The second attempt yielded the same results; no right main gear light. At that time I felt the gear was unsafe and might collapse on landing; I elected to declare an emergency. While in route; the controller asked if I wanted to land at an airport with emergency equipment and suggested a nearby major airport. I agreed and asked for a vector and loaded the identification in my GPS. I made a successful landing. The landing gear was found to be down and locked into place. There was no damage to the aircraft or any ground equipment. I reported to the emergency crew and asked permission to restart my aircraft and taxi to the ramp. I spoke with the airport administrator and provided my person information to the tower for reporting. I then called the phone number given me by the controller as requested by ATC.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE55 landing gear did not indicate down and locked so the pilot declared an emergency and landed safely at an airport with emergency equipment as suggested by ATC.

Narrative: On approach to landing the right main gear indicator failed to illuminate. I advised the Tower and started climb to a safe altitude. Tower advised that it appeared that the right main gear was not fully extended. I advised Tower that I intended to climb to a safe altitude and perform an emergency gear extension. Tower advised me to fly a heading of 140 then sent me back over to Approach Control. After establishing radio contact with Approach; I attempted a manual gear extension. Emergency procedures where followed from the POH. After the procedure the right main gear light was still out. I advised ATC that I wanted to return to my base airport. A new code was issued and I remained on VFR flight following. I made contact with Approach and advised them of my situation. I advised that I wanted to attempt a second gear extension before switching over to Approach; this channel is extremely busy. Controller asked if I want to declare an emergency; I declined at that time. The second attempt yielded the same results; no right main gear light. At that time I felt the gear was unsafe and might collapse on landing; I elected to declare an emergency. While in route; the Controller asked if I wanted to land at an airport with emergency equipment and suggested a nearby major airport. I agreed and asked for a vector and loaded the ID in my GPS. I made a successful landing. The landing gear was found to be down and locked into place. There was no damage to the aircraft or any ground equipment. I reported to the emergency crew and asked permission to restart my aircraft and taxi to the ramp. I spoke with the Airport Administrator and provided my person information to the Tower for reporting. I then called the phone number given me by the Controller as requested by ATC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.