Three Green, Please

The mission was to transport myself and my wife from the Northeast U.S. to Florida for the holidays. My chosen platform was a well-worn Piper Arrow II rented from a local flying club. This particular airplane wasnt my first choice, but it beat walking or taking the airlines. After a long week of work and travel planning, we launched late in the afternoon on a Friday and I put the heading indicator on S.

Editorial Staff

Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

During a flight, a pilot encountered a landing gear indicator light failure despite hearing the gear extend and using the manual extension system.
Lacking visual confirmation from the lights, the pilot decided to land based on auditory and tactile cues, with the landing being uneventful as the gear was indeed down and locked.
A mechanic was unable to fully diagnose the persistent light issue, only confirming the dimming rheostat's function.
The pilot reflected that he should have sought further verification, such as a control tower fly-by for a visual check, emphasizing the importance of positive indications before landing.

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The mission was to transport myself and my wife from the Northeast U.S. to Florida for the holidays. My chosen platform was a well-worn Piper Arrow II rented from a local flying club. This particular airplane wasn’t my first choice, but it beat walking or taking the airlines. After a long week of work and travel planning, we launched late in the afternoon on a Friday and I put the heading indicator on “S.”

As I maneuvered to land at our planned fuel stop, I placed the landing gear handle in the down position at the appropriate time. As part of my pre-landing routine, I completed the cockpit flow and ran through the items on the instrument panel’s printed checklist. All was well until I got to the part about checking for three green lights on the landing gear. I had none.