A B737-800 stabilizer trim failed after takeoff without a failure annunciation when the circuit brea...

Narrative:

[I] departed as pilot flying. At 10;000 ft as I started to accelerate to climb speed; I noticed the aircraft was not trimming in the nose down direction and wanted to pitch up. I told the captain I thought we might have a trim problem; and passed control of the aircraft to him to try. He found the same results; returned control of the aircraft to me; and got out the QRH. I took ATC on the radio; while the captain ran the QRH checklist and contacted maintenance control. In the course of evaluating the malfunction with maintenance; and after discussing the circuit breaker reset policy; we elected that as a flight control system malfunction; it was within the captain's authority and would be prudent to attempt one reset of a popped circuit breaker. The popped circuit breaker was reset and immediately popped again when nose down trim was selected. At this point; we completed the QRH; and began a diversion. An uneventful; heavyweight; flaps 15 (per QRH) landing was accomplished. Stabilizer trim system failed sometime after the trim was set for takeoff. (Note: aircraft was trimmed nose down to set takeoff trim during normal checklist operations and functioned correctly at that time).

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-800 Stabilizer Trim failed after takeoff without a failure annunciation when the circuit break popped; was reset and popped again; so the flight diverted to a nearby airport.

Narrative: [I] departed as pilot flying. At 10;000 FT as I started to accelerate to climb speed; I noticed the aircraft was not trimming in the nose down direction and wanted to pitch up. I told the Captain I thought we might have a trim problem; and passed control of the aircraft to him to try. He found the same results; returned control of the aircraft to me; and got out the QRH. I took ATC on the radio; while the Captain ran the QRH checklist and contacted Maintenance Control. In the course of evaluating the malfunction with maintenance; and after discussing the Circuit Breaker reset policy; we elected that as a flight control system malfunction; it was within the Captain's authority and would be prudent to attempt one reset of a popped Circuit Breaker. The popped Circuit Breaker was reset and immediately popped again when nose down trim was selected. At this point; we completed the QRH; and began a diversion. An uneventful; heavyweight; flaps 15 (per QRH) landing was accomplished. Stabilizer Trim system failed sometime after the trim was set for takeoff. (Note: aircraft was trimmed nose down to set takeoff trim during normal checklist operations and functioned correctly at that time).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1006542
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Oceanic
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Elevator Trim System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

A B737-800 stabilizer trim failed after takeoff without a failure annunciation when the circuit break popped; was reset and popped again; so the flight diverted to a nearby airport.