Lear60 flight crew experiences unsafe nose gear indication after retraction. Extension produces thre...

Narrative:

We departed under far part 91. After rotation and positive rate; the gear was selected 'up.' the main gear retracted properly; but the nosewheel indicated 'unsafe' with one red light. We recycled the landing gear down once; and it indicated three safe landing gear ('three green') and no red 'unsafe' lights. We were overweight for landing; so we decided to proceed on course with the gear down. At this point; we had surmised that it was a minor problem with the alignment of the nosewheel that could be fixed at the next airport; after reaching landing weight. We continued north to our destination. Upon arrival; we decided to have the tower visually inspect our landing gear for the orientation of the nosewheel. After the first pass; they indicated the nosewheel looked off '30 or 40 degrees.' we did another low approach; and they then indicated it appeared to be turned '90 degrees; perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.' after this; we went offshore a few miles and orbited in VMC conditions while we ran various checklists; spoke with the director of operations and maintenance technicians; and executed some troubleshooting procedures. After we tried several procedures; we executed another low approach. They said the orientation of the nosewheel had not changed. We then went out over the water again and orbited. We briefed the passengers for an emergency landing and evacuation (if necessary); briefed the landing among the crew; declared an emergency; and told tower of our intentions to make an emergency landing with the nosewheel turned 90 degrees. We flew a normal approach. I landed the aircraft nose-high and gently lowered the nosewheel. Upon nosewheel touchdown; the wheel abruptly turned to its normal forward position; and the rest of the rollout and taxi-off went without incident. Besides the abrupt nosewheel correction during rollout; the landing was safe without damage to the aircraft. No passengers or crew were injured.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Lear60 Flight Crew experiences unsafe nose gear indication after retraction. Extension produces three safe indications. A tower fly by indicates the nose gear is cocked 90 degrees from normal. Upon touch down the nose gear straightens itself out and normal roll out ensues.

Narrative: We departed under FAR Part 91. After rotation and positive rate; the gear was selected 'up.' The main gear retracted properly; but the nosewheel indicated 'unsafe' with one red light. We recycled the landing gear down once; and it indicated three safe landing gear ('three green') and no red 'unsafe' lights. We were overweight for landing; so we decided to proceed on course with the gear down. At this point; we had surmised that it was a minor problem with the alignment of the nosewheel that could be fixed at the next airport; after reaching landing weight. We continued north to our destination. Upon arrival; we decided to have the Tower visually inspect our landing gear for the orientation of the nosewheel. After the first pass; they indicated the nosewheel looked off '30 or 40 degrees.' We did another low approach; and they then indicated it appeared to be turned '90 degrees; perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.' After this; we went offshore a few miles and orbited in VMC conditions while we ran various checklists; spoke with the Director of Operations and Maintenance Technicians; and executed some troubleshooting procedures. After we tried several procedures; we executed another low approach. They said the orientation of the nosewheel had not changed. We then went out over the water again and orbited. We briefed the passengers for an emergency landing and evacuation (if necessary); briefed the landing among the crew; declared an emergency; and told Tower of our intentions to make an emergency landing with the nosewheel turned 90 degrees. We flew a normal approach. I landed the aircraft nose-high and gently lowered the nosewheel. Upon nosewheel touchdown; the wheel abruptly turned to its normal forward position; and the rest of the rollout and taxi-off went without incident. Besides the abrupt nosewheel correction during rollout; the landing was safe without damage to the aircraft. No passengers or crew were injured.

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.

Attributes
ACN	860170
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Learjet 60
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach Landing Climb Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 4800 Flight Crew Type 1200
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 4300 Flight Crew Type 1300
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Lear60 flight crew experiences unsafe nose gear indication after retraction. Extension produces three safe indications. A tower fly by indicates the nose gear is cocked 90 degrees from normal. Upon touch down the nose gear straightens itself out and normal roll out ensues.