Narrative:

We experienced an abnormal pitch control anomaly after takeoff. As pilot not flying; I completed pilot not flying duties. The captain continued to fly the aircraft to 6;000 ft MSL at which time he asked me to fly the aircraft and establish an opinion as to the performance and whether we should continue on with the flight. Positive transfer of controls was made and I flew the aircraft to approximately 14;000 ft. Based on my experience; the pitch control felt very sluggish and slow to respond to inputs. The captain and I agreed in which we decided to return to the airport of departure. An emergency was declared and priority handling was provided by ATC. We landed the aircraft with no problems or events. Good CRM was applied. Prior to engine start during the before start checklist; (below the line) the captain was performing the flight control check and noticed the pitch and elevator check seemed very mushy and not the normal feel he was used to. He asked me to do the check as well. Since the first officer doesn't normally do this check; I could only base my observation on limited experience for this scenario. The controls seemed mushy but not overly noticeable. All indications were normal and no EICAS messages appeared. So we didn't feel there were any reasons to ground the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767-300 flight crew reports a 'mushy' feeling elevator during a flight control check prior to departure; but with full elevator movement available the crew elects to depart. Once airborne the same mushy feeling prompts the crew to return. Maintenance discovers a broken inner spring in the elevator feel system to be the cause.

Narrative: We experienced an abnormal pitch control anomaly after takeoff. As pilot not flying; I completed pilot not flying duties. The Captain continued to fly the aircraft to 6;000 FT MSL at which time he asked me to fly the aircraft and establish an opinion as to the performance and whether we should continue on with the flight. Positive transfer of controls was made and I flew the aircraft to approximately 14;000 FT. Based on my experience; the pitch control felt very sluggish and slow to respond to inputs. The Captain and I agreed in which we decided to return to the airport of departure. An Emergency was declared and priority handling was provided by ATC. We landed the aircraft with no problems or events. Good CRM was applied. Prior to engine start during the Before Start Checklist; (below the line) the Captain was performing the flight control check and noticed the pitch and elevator check seemed very mushy and not the normal feel he was used to. He asked me to do the check as well. Since the first officer doesn't normally do this check; I could only base my observation on limited experience for this scenario. The controls seemed mushy but not overly noticeable. All indications were normal and no EICAS messages appeared. So we didn't feel there were any reasons to ground the aircraft.

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.