Narrative:

On climbout we experienced a pitch trim main fail warning message. As pilot not flying I canceled the warning. The captain; as pilot flying; disengaged the autopilot and continued to hand fly the airplane. We decided to level the airplane at FL270 prior to entering rvsm airspace and run the QRH. We followed QRH procedures and selected the main trim system cut out. According to the QRH the autopilot could still be used so we decided to continue with the flight. We retrimmed the airplane and engage the autopilot once level at FL330. We notified maintenance and asked for their input. They concurred that we continue to our destination. Although [our destination] was some distance away we decided to still continue since we could engage the autopilot as long as it was properly trimmed; and we had confirmed that we would have enough fuel even if we left rvsm airspace. Along the way we had the option of [another suitable airport] in case any other malfunction of the trim system occurred. The flight continued to the destination. The only trouble we had was keeping the airplane in trim with the autopilot engaged. Several times we had to disconnect it; retrim the airplane; and reconnect the autopilot. We also slowed to .73 to limit some force on the elevator. We decided to use only flaps 22 at [our destination] in case we had issues trimming the nose up. We landed without any other problems. The main threat obviously would have been the complete loss of the ability to trim the airplane. We talked about and planned for that possibility. We also had the QRH out and ready; and we read the procedures for that. Other threats included not being able to remain in rvsm airspace; which would have used more fuel to burn to our destination. However; using the FMS we decided that we had enough fuel to get to [our destination] and plenty of options along the way. I think the situation was handled in a proper manner. Good CRM was used. If anything; it helped me put a perspective on how to properly work as a crew and handle an abnormal mechanical situation. I'll use it to guide me in decision making.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An EMB-145 flight crew suffered a main pitch trim failure. The completed the QRH procedure and determined they could continue to destination using the autopilot which they disconnected from time to time to allow manual retrimming.

Narrative: On climbout we experienced a PITCH TRIM MAIN FAIL warning message. As pilot not flying I canceled the warning. The Captain; as pilot flying; disengaged the autopilot and continued to hand fly the airplane. We decided to level the airplane at FL270 prior to entering RVSM airspace and run the QRH. We followed QRH procedures and selected the main trim system cut out. According to the QRH the autopilot could still be used so we decided to continue with the flight. We retrimmed the airplane and engage the autopilot once level at FL330. We notified Maintenance and asked for their input. They concurred that we continue to our destination. Although [our destination] was some distance away we decided to still continue since we could engage the autopilot as long as it was properly trimmed; and we had confirmed that we would have enough fuel even if we left RVSM airspace. Along the way we had the option of [another suitable airport] in case any other malfunction of the trim system occurred. The flight continued to the destination. The only trouble we had was keeping the airplane in trim with the autopilot engaged. Several times we had to disconnect it; retrim the airplane; and reconnect the autopilot. We also slowed to .73 to limit some force on the elevator. We decided to use only Flaps 22 at [our destination] in case we had issues trimming the nose up. We landed without any other problems. The main threat obviously would have been the complete loss of the ability to trim the airplane. We talked about and planned for that possibility. We also had the QRH out and ready; and we read the procedures for that. Other threats included not being able to remain in RVSM airspace; which would have used more fuel to burn to our destination. However; using the FMS we decided that we had enough fuel to get to [our destination] and plenty of options along the way. I think the situation was handled in a proper manner. Good CRM was used. If anything; it helped me put a perspective on how to properly work as a crew and handle an abnormal mechanical situation. I'll use it to guide me in decision making.

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.