DC9 CREW HAD THE ACFT ELEVATOR BECOME JAMMED INFLT.

Narrative

DURING CLB TO AND LEVELOFF AT ALT; IT WAS DETERMINED THE ELEVATOR HAD FROZEN/BECOME JAMMED. FLEW ACFT USING PRIMARY AND ALTERNATE TRIM. STARTED AIRFOIL ANTI-ICE/TAIL CYCLING. CHKED ARPTS FOR XWIND; TEMP AT SURFACE; FREEZING LEVELS; LENGTHS OF RWYS. INCLUDED MKE; ORD; STL; DSM; MCI; OMA. FLT ORIGINATED IN MKE. BEST ARPT BASED ON ABOVE OMA. DSNDED TO LOWER ALT. STARTED APU. AT FL200 FREEZING LEVEL WITH TEMP INVERSION LOWER. AT 16000 FT TEMP +20 DEGS C; LEVELED AT OMA. ELEVATOR CTL REGAINED AFTER 10 MINS AT 16000 FT. LANDED OMA WITHOUT INCIDENT. NOTE: MKE WX HAD HVY RAIN ALL NIGHT. ACFT WAS PARKED THERE TAIL N THAT DAY. WX AT DEP TIME: XA56Z; 050 DEGS AT 21 KTS GUSTING TO 27 KTS. VIS 2 1/2; RAIN; 9 BROKEN; 15 OVCST; TEMP/DEW PT 3/3; ALTIMETER 29.52; ILS RWY 7R. THIS HAS OCCURRED BEFORE. MAY OR MAY NOT BE A RELATED PROB. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR INDICATED HIS AIRLINE HAS HAD MANY FROZEN ELEVATORS THIS YR. THE FAA; NTSB; AND THE MANUFACTURER ARE CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN THE INVESTIGATION. IT SEEMS THAT A NEW TYPE IV ACFT ANTI-ICING FLUID IS PLUGGING UP WATER DRAIN HOLES IN THE TAIL AREA. WHEN THE ACFT IS POSITIONED SO THAT THE RAIN AND WIND BLOW AT A 50 DEG ANGLE FROM THE NOSE ON THE L SIDE; WATER ACCUMULATES IN THE TAIL. WHEN THE WATER FREEZES; AS THE ACFT CLBS TO ALT; THE CABLES THAT ACTIVATE THE ELEVATOR CTL TABS FREEZE. THEY ARE IMMOBILIZED UNTIL THE ICE IN THE TAIL AREA MELTS; AS THE ACFT DSNDS.