Narrative:

During cruise flight; we noticed that the landing fuel was going to be close/over max landing weight. We discussed the potential problem and talked about how to make sure we were below max landing weight before the FAF on the approach into ith. Our plan was to configure early and use flaps/speed brake to burn extra fuel and if we were still to close we would perform a hold over the FAF (vrnah) to burn the extra fuel. We began the approach and configured early to try and help with fuel burn. As we neared the FAF we determined that we would need to perform one turn in holding over the vrnah. We advised tower of our fuel issue and made the request to hold over the FAF (standard hold) at 3000 ft. After a slight delay with ATC coordination; the controller came back and said 'approved as requested.' by this time we were already past the FAF around 2800 ft. I disconnected the autopilot; added power; began a shallow climb back to 3000 ft; began a right turn to the outbound course; and called for flaps 9. After a positive rate was established; I called for gear up. Once we were on the outbound course abeam vrnah; the aural warning 'landing gear' began to sound. We attempted to silence the warning but it would just come back on. About 20 seconds later; we received an aural 'terrain; pull up' warning. I immediately responded by adding power and established a climb to the MSA (3700 ft). I had previously placed the mfd on terrain mode knowing that the ithaca area was surrounded by shallow hills. During the GPWS event; I never saw any terrain indication on the mfd. Quickly after reaching the MSA; we realized that there were two towers at 2279 ft and 2101 ft that likely caused the GPWS warning. By this time; we knew we were good on fuel and landing weight; and clear of any terrain/obstacles. We advised tower that we were ready to turn inbound and re-intercept the localizer. They cleared us to land; and I began reconfiguring for the ILS. We performed the approach without issue and landed on rwy 32 without event.the GPWS alarm went off most likely because of the towers less than 1000 ft below us up ahead. We assumed 3000 ft would be a safe altitude for our holding maneuver since there was a published hold on the approach chart and ATC approved our request at that specific altitude. We also knew the highest obstacle was at 2302 ft far to the northeast of the field. We overlooked the fact that we would be flying over those towers and they could potentially trigger the GPWS.I believe our plan to deal with the fuel issue was good in theory. We were also reassured when ATC cleared us 'as requested.' we overlooked the fact that even though 3000' was the platform altitude; the two towers at 2279 and 2101 would potentially cause the GPWS to activate. We should have performed the maneuver at a higher altitude (3700 ft).

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain reported climbing in response to a GPWS terrain warning on a night approach to ITH.

Narrative: During cruise flight; we noticed that the landing fuel was going to be close/over max landing weight. We discussed the potential problem and talked about how to make sure we were below max landing weight before the FAF on the approach into ITH. Our plan was to configure early and use flaps/speed brake to burn extra fuel and if we were still to close we would perform a hold over the FAF (VRNAH) to burn the extra fuel. We began the approach and configured early to try and help with fuel burn. As we neared the FAF we determined that we would need to perform one turn in holding over the VRNAH. We advised tower of our fuel issue and made the request to hold over the FAF (Standard Hold) at 3000 ft. After a slight delay with ATC coordination; the controller came back and said 'approved as requested.' By this time we were already past the FAF around 2800 ft. I disconnected the Autopilot; added power; began a shallow climb back to 3000 ft; began a right turn to the outbound course; and called for FLAPS 9. After a positive rate was established; I called for GEAR UP. Once we were on the outbound course abeam VRNAH; the aural warning 'LANDING GEAR' began to sound. We attempted to silence the warning but it would just come back on. About 20 seconds later; we received an aural 'TERRAIN; PULL UP' warning. I immediately responded by adding power and established a climb to the MSA (3700 ft). I had previously placed the MFD on terrain mode knowing that the Ithaca area was surrounded by shallow hills. During the GPWS event; I never saw any terrain indication on the MFD. Quickly after reaching the MSA; we realized that there were two towers at 2279 ft and 2101 ft that likely caused the GPWS warning. By this time; we knew we were good on fuel and landing weight; and clear of any terrain/obstacles. We advised tower that we were ready to turn inbound and re-intercept the localizer. They cleared us to land; and I began reconfiguring for the ILS. We performed the approach without issue and landed on Rwy 32 without event.The GPWS alarm went off most likely because of the towers less than 1000 ft below us up ahead. We assumed 3000 ft would be a safe altitude for our holding maneuver since there was a published hold on the approach chart and ATC approved our request at that specific altitude. We also knew the highest obstacle was at 2302 ft far to the NE of the field. We overlooked the fact that we would be flying over those towers and they could potentially trigger the GPWS.I believe our plan to deal with the fuel issue was good in theory. We were also reassured when ATC cleared us 'as requested.' We overlooked the fact that even though 3000' was the platform altitude; the two towers at 2279 and 2101 would potentially cause the GPWS to activate. We should have performed the maneuver at a higher altitude (3700 ft).

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.