C185 captain noted that the landing gear of his float equipped aircraft would not remain retracted a...

Attributes
ACN	1315453
Time
Date	201512
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skywagon 185
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Landing
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Main Gear
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 184 Flight Crew Total 9077 Flight Crew Type 850
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

Enroute I noticed the main gear up lights were not illuminated. I proceeded to cycle the gear up; after which; all gear up and locked lights came on. As I neared the destination which was to be a water landing I again noticed the main gear up lights not illuminated. I attempted to cycle and pump the main gear up by hand but seemed to not have any pressure on the hydraulic pump and could not get the lights to come on or get the gear up. The main gear were now visible in the mirrors. I decided to return and land suspecting loss of hydraulic fluid. On arrival and selecting gear down there was no response. The nose gear were up and locked; there was no indication of the main gear being up or down and locked but they were visibly down in the mirrors. I opted to land on the smoother and wider taxiway as opposed to the runway which was bordered by water on one side and a ditch on the other. On touchdown the right main gear collapsed into the well causing minor damage to the float keel on that side. No one was injured.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C185 Captain noted that the landing gear of his float equipped aircraft would not remain retracted and elected to return to the departure airport for landing on a paved taxiway. On touchdown the right main gear collapsed.

Narrative: Enroute I noticed the main gear up lights were not illuminated. I proceeded to cycle the gear up; after which; all gear up and locked lights came on. As I neared the destination which was to be a water landing I again noticed the main gear up lights not illuminated. I attempted to cycle and pump the main gear up by hand but seemed to not have any pressure on the hydraulic pump and could not get the lights to come on or get the gear up. The main gear were now visible in the mirrors. I decided to return and land suspecting loss of hydraulic fluid. On arrival and selecting gear down there was no response. The nose gear were up and locked; there was no indication of the main gear being up or down and locked but they were visibly down in the mirrors. I opted to land on the smoother and wider taxiway as opposed to the runway which was bordered by water on one side and a ditch on the other. On touchdown the right main gear collapsed into the well causing minor damage to the float keel on that side. No one was injured.

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.

C185 captain noted that the landing gear of his float equipped aircraft would not remain retracted and elected to return to the departure airport for landing on a paved taxiway. On touchdown the right main gear collapsed.