Narrative:

We departed from the ramp where conditions were marginal (compacted snow and ice; sand over the top of that for traction). All checklists were accomplished normally. We briefed on the taxi out that after departure we would leave the gear down for approximately 20 seconds to blow off any potential contamination from the ramp/taxi out. We were cleared for takeoff and we left the gear down for 15 to 20 seconds as briefed. After the 15 to 20 second time frame I went to retract the gear. Immediately after moving the gear handle to the retract position the aircraft yawed slightly to the left. This was followed by all three green lights extinguishing. However after 10 seconds or so the red gear in transit light had not gone out and the amber hydraulic press on annunciator was still illuminated. This indicated that the hydraulic system was still pressurized and trying to retract the gear. This is much longer than it normally takes. We discussed the situation and decided to put the gear back down and see what happens. We got a 'three-green' indication so we cycled the gear one more time. The same indications as above re-appeared. The green lights went out; but the gear in-transit light remained illuminated. We then cycled the gear down and decided to leave it down and return to the airport. We discussed whether or not to declare an emergency. We reached the decision that declaring an emergency would be the safest course of action so an emergency was declared. We were given vectors to a visual approach. We completed the approach; and before landing checklists and looked through the emergency/abnormal checklists to see if there was anything we were missing. There was no checklist for 'landing gear fails to retract' or anything along those lines. The approach and landing were uneventful and the airplane was taxied to the ramp.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE560 landing gear failed to retract after departure from an airport with snow and ice covered ramps and taxiways. The flight crew returns to their departure airport uneventfully.

Narrative: We departed from the ramp where conditions were marginal (compacted snow and ice; sand over the top of that for traction). All checklists were accomplished normally. We briefed on the taxi out that after departure we would leave the gear down for approximately 20 seconds to blow off any potential contamination from the ramp/taxi out. We were cleared for takeoff and we left the gear down for 15 to 20 seconds as briefed. After the 15 to 20 second time frame I went to retract the gear. Immediately after moving the gear handle to the retract position the aircraft yawed slightly to the left. This was followed by all three green lights extinguishing. However after 10 seconds or so the Red gear in transit light had not gone out and the Amber Hydraulic Press On annunciator was still illuminated. This indicated that the hydraulic system was still pressurized and trying to retract the gear. This is much longer than it normally takes. We discussed the situation and decided to put the gear back down and see what happens. We got a 'three-green' indication so we cycled the gear one more time. The same indications as above re-appeared. The green lights went out; but the gear in-transit light remained illuminated. We then cycled the gear down and decided to leave it down and return to the airport. We discussed whether or not to declare an emergency. We reached the decision that declaring an emergency would be the safest course of action so an emergency was declared. We were given vectors to a visual approach. We completed the approach; and before landing checklists and looked through the Emergency/Abnormal checklists to see if there was anything we were missing. There was no checklist for 'landing gear fails to retract' or anything along those lines. The approach and landing were uneventful and the airplane was taxied to the ramp.

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.