BE400 Captain reported a frozen thrust lever at top of climb at climb thrust setting. Engine thrust was reduced by turning on engine anti-ice and turning off EFC. Right engine thrust was modulated to maintain cruise speed and flight continued to destination. During descent the thrust lever unfroze at 24;000 FT.

Date: 2010-03 · Aircraft: Beechjet 400 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe

Synopsis

BE400 Captain reported a frozen thrust lever at top of climb at climb thrust setting. Engine thrust was reduced by turning on engine anti-ice and turning off EFC. Right engine thrust was modulated to maintain cruise speed and flight continued to destination. During descent the thrust lever unfroze at 24;000 FT.

Narrative

Upon level off at FL390; thrust levers were being retarded to maintain planned cruise speed of 0.73 Mach. At this time it was determined that the left thrust lever was frozen at 102.5 N1. Top of climb was 00:40 minutes into flight and the temperatures at FL390 were RAT -31C/SAT -54C. Crew maintained control of aircraft and discussed any applicable checklists. We discussed any and all ways to maintain aircraft control and called the fleet Captain. We discussed all possible scenarios on how to maintain aircraft control enroute; descent; approach and landing. Confirmed no applicable checklists. All were in agreement to continue flight to planned destination with anticipation that the left thrust lever would unfreeze at a lower altitude; based on previous aircraft experiencing the same discrepancy. We utilized a combination of left engine anti-Ice (which reduced N1 6%) and left engine EFC OFF (which reduced N1 another 6%). In the descent we reduced the right thrust lever to idle and utilized rudder trim to coordinate flight. The left thrust lever unfroze at 24;000 feet with temperatures of RAT -18C/SAT -32C. The remainder of the flight was normal.

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