AN EMB145 CAPT; MOMENTS AFTER TKOF; REQUESTED TO RETURN TO THE FIELD DUE TO A MAIN PITCH TRIM AND ALTERNATE PITCH TRIM FAILURE.

Date: 2004-12 · Aircraft: EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR · Phase: climb

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-maintenance

Synopsis

AN EMB145 CAPT; MOMENTS AFTER TKOF; REQUESTED TO RETURN TO THE FIELD DUE TO A MAIN PITCH TRIM AND ALTERNATE PITCH TRIM FAILURE.

Narrative

MOMENTS AFTER DEPARTING RWY 18L IN ZZZ; WE EXPERIENCED A PITCH TRIM MAIN SYSTEM AND BACK UP SYSTEM FAILURE. WE PERFORMED ALL APPROPRIATE CHKLISTS AND COULD NOT RESOLVE THE ISSUE. WE REQUESTED TO RETURN TO FIELD AND HAVE EQUIPMENT STANDING BY. WE DID NOT DECLARE AN EMER. THE EMB-145 HAS A HISTORY OF PITCH TRIM PROBS AND THE SIT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED. SOME CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN REGARDS TO THE HANDLING OF THE INCIDENT INCLUDE POOR CHKLIST DESIGN; NIGHT FLYING; AND HEAVY WORKLOAD. ALSO; ATC QUESTIONS AND CONVERSATION CONTINUOUSLY DISTRACTED OUR COMPLETION OF THE CHKLIST. CHKLIST DESIGN AND REVISION PROCS CONTRIBUTED TO US MISSING ONE PAGE OF THE CHKLIST. WE NEED A NEW CHKLIST REVISION PROC. I ALSO FEEL THAT ATC SHOULD GIVE US TIME TO RUN CHKLISTS; INSTEAD OF CALLING TO ASK QUESTIONS SO FREQUENTLY.CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE MAIN PITCH TRIM AND BACKUP SYSTEM FAILURE IS A CHRONIC PROB. MAINT CHKED THE CENTRAL COMPUTER AND NO FAULTS FOUND AND CLEARED THE ITEM WITH A GND CHK. THE FLT RECORDER WAS DOWNLOADED AND SENT TO ENGINEERING. THE PROB IS BELIEVED TO BE THE ACTUATORS ARE NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO OVERCOME THE STABILIZER AIR LOADS. THE REQUIREMENT OF ADDING A FEW UNITS OF NOSE DOWN TRIM PRIOR TO REACHING 160 KTS IS STILL FOLLOWED. MAINT REPLACED THE MAIN ELECTRIC ACTUATOR AND CONTROL UNIT; AND TEST FLEW THE AIRPLANE WITH NO PROBS.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.