Dash 8-400
Situational Awareness; Confusion; Distraction; Human-Machine Interface
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
I started this flight distracted. The passenger cabin door would not shut initially. Flight Attendant A and I figured out that it was hitting something forward and Flight Attendant A saw what was keeping the door from closing and was able to get the door closed. However; I kept thinking about this even up to the hold short line.We were cleared for take-off and I called 'Positive Rate' which the Captain responded 'Gear Up.' I thought I put the gear up; but looking back I put the flaps up. At 1000 feet I called 'Acceleration Altitude' and the Captain responded with 'Flap etc.' call. However; I noticed that the flaps did not move and this really confused me. I completed the After Take Off checklist looking at every item; but again missed that the gear was still down.I mentioned to the Captain that the flaps did not move; but in my mind I was going over all the checks that we had completed that would indicate that the flaps were in the correct position for takeoff. I verbalized that we did the 'Flaps 5 set and indicating 5' and the takeoff warning check would have indicated that the flaps would have had to been in the correct position. The plane was climbing; but buffeting because the gear was down. I was fixated on the flaps and even suggested to the Captain that we have the Flight Attendants look at the wings to make sure the flaps were up. I was continuing with the PNF duties of contacting departure; setting altitudes; and doing the 10;000 foot checks. It was somewhere in this time that the Captain mentioned to me later that he saw the plane's speed at 220 kts. I think it was at a lower altitude close to our initial level off of 3000 feet. I did not see this; because of PNF duties.The Flight Attendants were contacted at 10;000 feet and they reported the flaps looked normal. We continued to climb and performance wasn't terrible; but it wasn't normal and there was the buffeting. We were fully loaded with over 7000 lbs of fuel and a jumpseat rider. At FL190 the Captain said; 'Our gear is down.' This is the point that I realized I put the flaps up at 'Positive Rate' instead of the gear. We requested a lower altitude so we could retract the gear and center assigned us 13;000 feet. Below 15;000 feet and at 190 kts the Captain commanded the gear up and I put the gear up.We continued the flight with no other issues. The Captain really encouraged me because I was beating myself up pretty bad for this mistake. He said it was a 'we' issue; not a 'me' issue. I learned a lot yesterday.[I have some suggestions:] 1. Don't get fixated! 2. Read the checklist VERY closely. 3. Don't try to convince the crew of what I think the problem is or isn't. 4. Take a few seconds to re-do a checklist. 5. Take into consideration what I did wrong; correct it; and continue safely with the flight.
I was the pilot flying and the FO was the pilot monitoring......when we reached acceleration altitude and called for 'flaps up; climb power; select pitch; after takeoff checklist;' the FO became confused and distracted. She didn't understand how the flap handle was up already. In the confusion she completed the after takeoff checklist but missed the three green landing gear lights which were still illuminated. I then leveled out at 3;000 feet and I believe the airspeed accelerated to approximately 220K for about 20-30 seconds until we received clearance to a higher altitude. The FO; again expressed concern that the flaps didn't feel right. Shortly after that I said that the plane sounds loud and it feels like it's buffeting. I also got distracted and was wondering if we had an issue with the flaps that we didn't know about. I also checked the spoilers to make sure they were down. We continued to climb and I noticed that are climb performance wasn't that good....Then we asked if the ANVS [Active Noise and Vibration Suppression] was inop; and the FA said it was. Since that was not on MEL; I assumed that was the source of the noise. Also; when we climbed through 10;000 feet and set the props to 850 the airplane quieted down quite a bit. I still didn't understand why our climb performance was pretty bad. Our jumpseater made a comment that there were a lot of big bags. Then I started to think that we were heavier then what we thought. Then we leveled off early at flight level 190 because our climb performance was so poor. When we didn't accelerate past 200 kts I finally realized that the landing gear was still down.... I notified dispatch via acars shortly after that so they could get maintenance involved and make plans as necessary. Once we got to the gate; I wrote the airplane exceedence up in the aircraft logbook...I consider this a two part issue. 1. The error itself; and 2. Trouble shooting the situation incorrectly...The error could have been mitigated by focusing more on deliberate checks while running the checklist. The trouble shooting problem could have been prevented by slowing down; figuratively take a step back from the situation; gather all the facts; examine what could have been causing the situation; systematically consider each potential cause; identify the cause; consider possible solutions; assess the risks of each solution; decide on the best solution; then finally monitor the effect of our chosen action.
When the Captain called for gear up immediately after takeoff the first officer mistakenly retracted the flaps instead. The error wasn't noted and corrected until the aircraft stopped climbing and wouldn't accelerate around FL200. They descended; retracted the landing gear; and continued to their destination.