Narrative:

Upon takeoff from runway 30; landing gear was selected up after liftoff. Gear retracted normally except the nose gear 'north.door' light remained illuminated indicating the nose doors were still open. After reaching above 1;000 ft AGL; we accelerated the aircraft and configured for climbing with flaps 0 and climb power. Climbed to 12;000. Referenced the QRH for this abnormal condition and followed the procedure. We extended the landing gear manually per QRH and the gear was down and locked -3 green. We made the necessary notifications to the crew; company; and passengers. Declared an emergency as a precaution. Executed the ILS and landed uneventful. No other issues.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DHC-8-400's nose gear door light remained illuminated after gear retraction. An emergency was declared; and the gear was extended normally at their destination.

Narrative: Upon takeoff from Runway 30; landing gear was selected up after liftoff. Gear retracted normally except the nose gear 'N.DOOR' light remained illuminated indicating the nose doors were still open. After reaching above 1;000 FT AGL; we accelerated the aircraft and configured for climbing with flaps 0 and climb power. Climbed to 12;000. Referenced the QRH for this abnormal condition and followed the procedure. We extended the landing gear manually per QRH and the gear was down and locked -3 green. We made the necessary notifications to the crew; company; and passengers. Declared an emergency as a precaution. Executed the ILS and landed uneventful. No other issues.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.