Q400
Situational Awareness
Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Human Factors; Procedure
After what initially appeared to be a normal takeoff and climbout with all callouts and checklists; the Captain asked me if I noticed a 'rumbling' during our climb. We were at approximately 6;000 FT in our climbout of SEA and slowly accelerating. I did notice the 'rumbling' he was talking about and after a very quick scan I noticed that the Captain had not brought the gear up. I said 'the gear' and pointed at the gear. Before we could talk about slowing down to below 200 KTS (we were at exactly 215 KTS) the Captain reached over and brought up the gear.After we had passed 10;000 FT in our climb he asked 'How did we miss that?' This started a discussion which ultimately led the Captain to believe that when we had our initial 'positive rate' and 'gear up' calls; he just didn't get the gear up. He remembers hitting the lock and at least attempting to put the gear up; but it obviously was not put up. He also remarked that he was so used to confirming that the gear was down before landing during the landing checklist; the three green lights indicating the gear was down didn't register as it should have that the gear was not up during the after takeoff checklist.
On my flow I did not ensure the gear handle was all the way up before moving my hand and my eyes up to the no smoking sign and the bleeds. On the post incident discussion the F.O. even said; 'I remember you saying positive rate and reaching for the handle.' I should have caught it on the After Takeoff checklist. When you read the checklist it says GEAR --- UP. I think I looked at the gear; saw 3 green and thought green is good (that is what I'm looking for on the landing checklist). I just didn't clue into something being wrong until the radio work was done and the checklist was put away that I realized the aircraft just didn't feel right.
Q400 Captain failed to raise the gear after takeoff and it was not noticed until both he and the First Officer noted a rumbling noise during climb.