CE560 flight crew detects jammed elevator trim during climbout. After checklist procedures are unsuc...

Narrative:

During climbout; the right seat pilot flying (PF) experienced difficulty trimming nose down while hand flying the aircraft. We were cleared to FL210. The PF is new to this model aircraft and thought he was doing something wrong when the trim would not initially move. He commented once the forces continued to increase so we leveled off at FL210 and proceeded to run checklists for the situation we encountered. We referenced and completed the electric trim inoperative checklist as well as the jammed elevator trim checklist. During our return to the field I spoke to the passengers and then declared an emergency to have equipment standing by. We assessed the control forces required at altitude and decided to configure early and higher than normal SOP to adjust for any issues we may encounter while configuring. Once slowed and configured the control forces became more manageable. After landing and on the taxi in; I tried the trim again manually and it was still frozen in its current position. During flight we were able to move the trim slightly rearward but never forward past the initial frozen point when assessing the situation. This has been an ongoing issue with this model aircraft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE560 flight crew detects jammed elevator trim during climbout. After checklist procedures are unsuccessful an emergency is declared and the flight returns to the departure airport. The Captain states that 'This has been an ongoing issue with this model aircraft'.

Narrative: During climbout; the right seat pilot flying (PF) experienced difficulty trimming nose down while hand flying the aircraft. We were cleared to FL210. The PF is new to this model aircraft and thought he was doing something wrong when the trim would not initially move. He commented once the forces continued to increase so we leveled off at FL210 and proceeded to run checklists for the situation we encountered. We referenced and completed the Electric Trim Inoperative Checklist as well as the Jammed Elevator Trim Checklist. During our return to the field I spoke to the passengers and then declared an emergency to have equipment standing by. We assessed the control forces required at altitude and decided to configure early and higher than normal SOP to adjust for any issues we may encounter while configuring. Once slowed and configured the control forces became more manageable. After landing and on the taxi in; I tried the trim again manually and it was still frozen in its current position. During flight we were able to move the trim slightly rearward but never forward past the initial frozen point when assessing the situation. This has been an ongoing issue with this model aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1153926
Time
Date	201403
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citation Excel (C560XL)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Elevator Trim System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

CE560 flight crew detects jammed elevator trim during climbout. After checklist procedures are unsuccessful an emergency is declared and the flight returns to the departure airport. The captain states that 'this has been an ongoing issue with this model aircraft'.