Airliners.net

Hi,
This past saturday (yesterday), a friend and I (Jonathan Birdwell) were taking pics at KTRI, when an Atlantic Southeast Airlines ATR-72 (N636AS) departed. As the airplane lifted off into the air, and I took a few pictures, I noticed that the landing gear was not brought up quickly, as usual when the ATR departs TRI. As the airplane climbed, the gear still was not brought up. At somewhere between 3000' and 5000' the gear was still down, as the plane was still climbing when it disappeared into the clouds. I half expected to see it circle around for landing, but it never returned that afternoon. If anyone could fill me in on what might have happened i would greatly appreciate it. Did the crew bring up the gear manually?

The ATR-72 departed at about 1:45 or so from KTRI, bound for KATL.

They probably had the gear retraction system deffered.

If the gear are not able to be retracted, the gear pins can be inserted and the aircraft can be used on revenue service with the gear remaining down. This is safe, although you incur a pretty hefty max gross takeoff weight penalty (about 8500 pounds). The gear are held down by mechanical over-center locks, so no hydralic pressure is neccesary to keep the gear from coming up, pins or no pins.

The only disadvantage for the passengers is a little noisier and slower ride... you're limited to 160 kts IAS.

Hope I answered your question.

They probably had the gear retraction system deffered.

If the gear are not able to be retracted, the gear pins can be inserted and the aircraft can be used on revenue service with the gear remaining down. This is safe, although you incur a pretty hefty max gross takeoff weight penalty (about 8500 pounds). The gear are held down by mechanical over-center locks, so no hydralic pressure is neccesary to keep the gear from coming up, pins or no pins.

The only disadvantage for the passengers is a little noisier and slower ride... you're limited to 160 kts IAS.

Hope I answered your question.

Thank ya much!!!! It was kinda interesting, (as not much is interesting at TRI) to see a very heavy ATR (max passengers) take off and not bring up the gear. The aircraft climbed a little slower than usual.

I see that you are an ATR pilot. Which airline do you fly for?

jonathan d.

I fly both the ATR 42 and ATR 72 for Trans World Express out of STL.

Well, I don't think they took max passengers... If you figure they took about 5000 pounds of gas for the trip to ATL, they could only carry about 15-18 people. You take an enourmous weight penalty leaving the gear down, as it severely hampers your ability to meet your single engine climb requirements on takeoff (in the event you lose one). To make up for this, you have to shed weight.

I fly for ASA (the CRJ's, not the ATR's) and I would like to point out another explanation . . . if the flight was a "quick turn" with only a few minutes spent on the ground, they may have left the gear down on purpose to allow for extra cooling of the main gear brakes. Again, I'm no ATR expert, but in the CRJ you must take brake temperature into account when you plan to make a brief stop between flights (there are POH guidelines to follow for these situations). Just something else to consider . . .

Good luck with the contract talks (TSA, right?).