The QantasLink Q400 had climbed past 10,000 ft when flight attendants contacted the flight crew to ask if it was “normal” that the landing gear was still extended. By the time the pilots confirmed that the gear was, in fact, extended and then retracted the gear, the airplane had climbed above the 15,000-ft limit for flight with gear extended, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.
In its final report on the July 12, 2021, incident, which occurred soon after departure from Sydney on a scheduled flight to Albury, New South Wales, the ATSB cited two contributing factors:
- The flight crew’s attention after takeoff had been “heavily focused on maintaining the aircraft’s speed and pitch, resulting in the omission of the ‘positive rate [of climb]’ call. This removed a trigger for the ‘gear up’ call, which neither pilot identified, and subsequently the landing gear was not retracted after take-off.”
- When conducting the after-takeoff c…
