2008-09 · NASA ASRS report 804308
A B757 FLT CREW EXPERIENCED TRAILING EDGE FLAP ASYMMETRY AFTER TAKEOFF. THEY DECLARED AN EMERGENCY; RAN THE QRH; AND RETURNED TO THEIR DEP ARPT.
I WAS CALLED FOR A QUICK CALL AT XA25 FOR AN XB35 DEP. I TOLD THE SCHEDULER THAT I COULD BE TO THE ARPT AT XB10. I WAS ASSIGNED THE B757 TRIP FOR ZZZZ1. I ARRIVED TO THE ACFT AND ACCOMPLISHED THE PREFLT AS EXPEDITIOUSLY AS I COULD; WHILE STILL ACCOMPLISHING ALL REQUIRED CHKS; FLOWS; OCEANIC PLANNING REQUIREMENTS (INCLUDING A DISPATCH RE-BRIEF); AND REVIEWED THE ACFT LOG. WE HAD SEVERAL MEL'S; INCLUDING THE CAPT'S BOOM MIKE WHICH REQUIRED THE UNCUSTOMARY USE OF THE HAND MIKE INSTEAD OF THE YOKE PUSH-TO-TALK BUTTON. WE ALSO HAD 'HVY.' I ASKED THE FO IF HE HAD BEEN FLYING LONG ON THE B757/767 WHICH HE RESPONDED YES. THE INK ON MY OWN TYPE RIDE WAS JUST BARELY DRY AND I HAD ONLY FLOWN 3 LEGS SINCE JULY. I THEN ASKED THE FO AND RELIEF PLT IF THEY FELT COMFORTABLE JUST BEFORE PUSH. SINCE THE FO HAD LOADED THE FLT PLAN; I TOLD HIM THAT IT WAS HIS LEG AND THAT I WOULD FLY IT BACK FROM XZZZ1. WE TAXIED OUT AND WITH VERY SLIGHT DELAY; WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. IT WAS INTERMITTENT RAIN AT THE TIME AND IMC SHORTLY AFTER TKOF. I AGAIN QUERIED THE CREW TO SEE IF EVERYONE WAS COMFORTABLE AND TO SEE IF WE HAD FORGOTTEN ANYTHING. EVERYONE FELT READY. IT WAS A FLAPS 15 DEG TKOF. DURING FLAP RETRACTION WE GOT THE EICAS MESSAGE FOR TRAILING EDGE FLAP ASYMMETRY. THE FO CALLED FOR THE QRH AND WE DISCUSSED STAYING SLOW SO NOT TO OVERSPEED THE FLAPS. I GRABBED THE QRH AND WE CONTINUED TO CLB OUT. THE FLAPS HAD STOPPED BTWN 5-20 DEGS. WE DETERMINED THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO RETURN TO THE FIELD. WE HAD THE RELIEF PLT COORD WITH THE FLT ATTENDANTS; COMPANY AND INFORM THE PAX THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO RETURN TO ZZZ. THE FO WANTED TO TURN THE ACFT OVER TO ME FOR THE LNDG; DUE TO THE EMER. I DECLARED AN EMER DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT NOT ONLY WAS A PARTIAL FLAP LNDG BUT WE WERE ALSO AN OVERWT LNDG ON A WET RWY. WE WEIGHED ALMOST 250000 LBS AT TKOF AND THE PLACARD LNDG WT WAS 198000 LBS. WE INFORMED THE PAX THAT WE WOULD BE MET BY THE TRUCKS BUT NOT TO BE ALARMED BECAUSE IT WAS JUST A PRECAUTIONARY PROC. WE ASKED FOR VECTORS AT 12000 FT AND EVENTUALLY WE WERE CLRED TO HOLD OVER THE VOR. I CONTINUED TO REVIEW THE QRH FOR THE TRAILING EDGE FLAP ASYMMETRY; TRAILING EDGE FLAP ASYMMETRY DSCNT/APCH; AND TRAILING EDGE FLAP ASYMMETRY LNDG CHKLISTS ALONG WITH THE NON-NORMAL FLAP LNDG TABLES. I ALSO REVIEWED PERFORMANCE SECTION OF THE PLT'S HANDBOOK AND LOOKED FOR ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE. I ALSO FELT THAT IT WAS AN ADVANTAGE TO BURN FUEL DOWN FOR THE OVERWT LNDG. I THEN WENT TO THE QRH OVERWT LNDG CHKLISTS AND OVERWT LNDG TABLES. THE NEED TO USE THE HAND MIKE INSTEAD OF THE BOOM MIKE WAS A BIT OF A DISTR. I BRIEFED THE ILS FOR THE LONGEST; GROOVED RWY. I TOOK OVER THE FLYING DUTIES AND THEN ASKED THE FO AND RELIEF PLT TO CONFIRM MY LNDG DATA AND TO USE IF I HAD MISSED ANYTHING IN THE QRH CHKLISTS. I WAS IN NO HURRY AND FIGURED ON LNDG AT 220000 LBS AND HAD COMPUTED LNDG DATA FOR THAT WT. AFTER THE OTHER PLTS CONFIRMED THE DATA AND CHKLIST; I ASKED THEM IF THEY FELT COMFORTABLE. THE RELIEF PLT BROUGHT UP THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO TELL THE CTLRS THAT OUR AIRSPD ON FINAL WOULD BE HIGHER THAN NORMAL (A VERY GOOD POINT; AS WE DIDN'T WANT TO OVERRUN OTHER ACFT ON FINAL) AND THE FO MENTIONED THAT WE MIGHT OVERSPEED THE FLAPS ON GS INTERCEPT. I SAID THAT WE WOULD REQUEST AN EXTENDED PATTERN AND THAT I WOULD SLOW DOWN EARLY AND PUT THE GEAR DOWN EARLY. WE WANTED TO BURN FUEL ANYHOW AND THE GS WAS STEEPER THAN NORMAL AT 3.1 DEGS. I ASKED THE RELIEF PLT IF THE PAX AND FLT ATTENDANT WERE OK AND IF THE COMPANY WAS AWARE OF OUR SITUATION AGAIN. THE FO RECHKED THE WX AND WE EXITED HOLDING. THE LNDG WENT AS PLANNED. WE BROKE OUT 1000 FT IN THE RAIN. WE TOUCHED DOWN AT ABOUT 100 FPM (SOFT) AND DIDN'T FLOAT. I LET THE ENERGY DISSIPATE ON THE ROLLOUT BY ROLLING TO THE END; BUT WE COULD HAVE EASILY HAVE STOPPED WITH 4000 FT REMAINING. WE REQUESTED THAT THE FIRE TRUCKS CHK THE GEAR WITH THE IR CAMERA BUT THEY SEEMED UNPREPARED TO DO SO EVEN THOUGH WE HAD REQUESTED IT IN THE AIR. I HAD NOT USED THE BRAKES HEAVILY; SO WE TAXIED TO THE GATE AND ENTERED THE OVERWT LNDG AND FLAP WRITE-UP IN THE ACFT LOGBOOK. INITIAL MAINT CHK INDICATED THAT THERE WAS A PROB WITH THE FLAP JACKSCREW. SIDE NOTE: I WAS SURPRISED THAT OUR BLOCK TIME WAS 1 HR 42 MINS. IT SEEMED LIKE MUCH LESS. ALSO; I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE OTHER PLTS' NAMES DUE TO OUR CURSORY INTRO UPON ARR AT THE ARPT AND I COULDN'T HAVE PICKED THEM OUT OF A LINEUP AFTER WE ARRIVED AT THE GATE; DUE TO THE DARKNESS OF THE COCKPIT AND MY CONCENTRATION ON THE PREFLT DUTIES DURING OUR INTRO; BUT I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS EXCELLENT CRM. KUDOS TO AN EXCELLENT TRAINING DEPT -- THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY. WE DEPARTED AGAIN 4 HRS LATE IN A B767 WITH 10 ADDITIONAL PAX.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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