Narrative:

After gear extension while on approach we did not get a green nose gear light on either the front or overhead panels. We executed a go around; climbed to 4000 ft and accelerated to 220 knots. I sent dispatch a note to call with maintenance control. We tested all lights with switch and press to test but both nose gear lights did not illuminate. We also looked for a checklist but did not find one that was applicable to our situation. During that time my first officer spoke with the fas and shortly after I made a PA to the passengers. It was my leg so I continued to fly and talk to ATC while my first officer spoke with dispatch and maintenance control. During that time I selected a new runway in the FMC and dialed in the new ILS frequencies. After relaying all to maintenance control he asked us to cycle the gear down and check again. After second gear extension we had a green nose gear light on overhead panel but not on forward panel. With concurrence from maintenance control we elected to leave the gear down and return for landing. After turning back I swapped controls with my first officer. I briefed that I had set us up for runway xx prior to knowing whether we'd have a nose gear. He told me we had one more call coming through. I spoke with the flight attendant's and made a 2nd PA letting the passenger know our gear indication was back to normal and we were coming back for a normal landing. I was not aware but someone had requested the chief pilot be brought in. By then I was on the conference call so I tried to quickly update him on the situation and terminate the call. While being vectored back my first officer was able to change one of two forward nose gear bulbs which then became halfway illuminated. Although the overhead panel green nose gear light was sufficient we were now back to two green nose gear lights. Approach told my first officer we'd be on runway xxr so with normal indications he continued to our original planned runway. He had just been cleared on a heading to intercept for the visual when I got back with him. He had reselected runway xxr in the box but did not remember to reselect the runway xxr frequency so he initially intercepted the runway xxl localizer. Approach queried him and gave us a new heading just as we caught the discrepancy. We then transferred controls; got switched to tower; cleared to land and I continued in for a normal landing to runway xxr.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 nose gear forward green and overhead down and locked lights did not illuminate with the gear down. After recycling the gear the overhead light illuminated. The forward green light illuminated following a bulb change.

Narrative: After gear extension while on approach we did not get a green nose gear light on either the front or overhead panels. We executed a go around; climbed to 4000 FT and accelerated to 220 knots. I sent dispatch a note to call with Maintenance Control. We tested all lights with switch and press to test but both nose gear lights did not illuminate. We also looked for a checklist but did not find one that was applicable to our situation. During that time my FO spoke with the FAs and shortly after I made a PA to the passengers. It was my leg so I continued to fly and talk to ATC while my FO spoke with Dispatch and Maintenance Control. During that time I selected a new runway in the FMC and dialed in the new ILS frequencies. After relaying all to Maintenance Control he asked us to cycle the gear down and check again. After second gear extension we had a green nose gear light on overhead panel but not on forward panel. With concurrence from Maintenance Control we elected to leave the gear down and return for landing. After turning back I swapped controls with my FO. I briefed that I had set us up for Runway XX prior to knowing whether we'd have a nose gear. He told me we had one more call coming through. I spoke with the FA's and made a 2nd PA letting the passenger know our gear indication was back to normal and we were coming back for a normal landing. I was not aware but someone had requested the Chief Pilot be brought in. By then I was on the conference call so I tried to quickly update him on the situation and terminate the call. While being vectored back my FO was able to change one of two forward nose gear bulbs which then became halfway illuminated. Although the overhead panel green nose gear light was sufficient we were now back to two green nose gear lights. Approach told my FO we'd be on Runway XXR so with normal indications he continued to our original planned runway. He had just been cleared on a heading to intercept for the visual when I got back with him. He had reselected Runway XXR in the box but did not remember to reselect the Runway XXR frequency so he initially intercepted the Runway XXL localizer. Approach queried him and gave us a new heading just as we caught the discrepancy. We then transferred controls; got switched to tower; cleared to land and I continued in for a normal landing to Runway XXR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.