ATSB to investigate if Qantas crew forgot to raise landing gear on take off

For the second time in a month, a wheels down incident during a QantasLink flight has triggered a transport safety investigation.

A QantasLink Dash-8 similar to the one pictured is the subject of a new ATSB investigation following another wheels down incident.

An investigation has begun into the second Qantas flight in less than a month to have a landing gear oversight.

On July 12, a QantasLink Dash-8 took off from Sydney to fly to Albury, but it was not until the aircraft was well into the climb that the crew realised they had not retracted the landing gear.

The wheels were brought up without incident but because the chain of events was outside standard operating procedure, the crew returned to Sydney, landing an hour after take off.

As well as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation, a Qantas spokeswoman said an internal review was underway to understand why the landing gear wasn’t retracted.

“We will work with the ATSB on its investigation,” said the spokeswoman.

It’s believed there were no maintenance concerns with the aircraft and human error was considered the most likely reason for the issue.

The ATSB investigation summary said the flight crew would be interviewed and operator procedures and flight crew records reviewed, along with recorded data.

The incident came just three weeks after another landing gear issue, involving a Qantas 787-9, flying from Sydney to Perth.

On that occasion the crew was unable to retract the wheels after take off and returned to Sydney Airport for an engineering inspection.

It was then discovered that the locking pins had not been removed from the main landing gear prior to the flight.

Although it is safe to fly an aircraft with the wheels down, it can impact fuel efficiency and speed performance.

Both investigations have been classified as “short” with the final reports expected by the end of March next year.

With pilots flying significantly less than previous years as a result of Covid restrictions such as lockdowns and border closures, concerns have been raised about a loss of their skills.

In a submission to the Senate inquiry into Australia’s aviation sector, the Australian Federation of Air Pilots warned that prolonged stand downs and infrequent flying could result in pilots becoming “stale”.

“This is problematic not only for the pilot, but for the industry overall,” said the submission.

A survey of AFAP members found of the 1140 who responded, 57 per cent were on full or partial stand down.

As a result, the AFAP called for the adoption of a policy to ensure pilots could maintain their skills through recurrent training without significant personal cost.