A large mcdonnell douglas widebody flight crew reported encountering a flap mechanical issue after t...

Attributes
ACN	1355349
Time
Date	201605
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	McDonnell Douglas Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Flap Control (Trailing & Leading Edge)
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Narrative:

Took off with flaps 15.2 degrees on dial a flap as per the performance software. I was the flying pilot; and called for flaps up at the appropriate time. First officer (first officer) could not get them to move. He tried multiple times at which time we switched roles; I tried multiple times and they were stuck. We leveled off at 10;000 ft and worked the problem. [Maintenance] was called they said follow QRH. There is none. We continued to try and move the flaps up or down. Finally called [dispatch] and said we would come back to be safe. Were near maximum gross landing weight (mglw). As we headed back towards the departure airport all of a sudden I was able to get the flap handle to move and cycle up and down. Problem solved!! We [then] headed to our destination. We had a lot of extra gas with multiple other fields should the problem arise again.I truly believe the flaps/slats were locked out due to taking off with 15.2 degrees. I have never taken off with a flap setting that high. A write up was made.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Large McDonnell Douglas widebody flight crew reported encountering a flap mechanical issue after takeoff. Problem resolved itself and the flight continued to its destination.

Narrative: Took off with flaps 15.2 degrees on dial a flap as per the performance software. I was the flying pilot; and called for flaps up at the appropriate time. First Officer (FO) could not get them to move. He tried multiple times at which time we switched roles; I tried multiple times and they were stuck. We leveled off at 10;000 ft and worked the problem. [Maintenance] was called they said follow QRH. There is none. We continued to try and move the flaps up or down. Finally called [dispatch] and said we would come back to be safe. Were near Maximum Gross Landing Weight (MGLW). As we headed back towards the departure airport all of a sudden I was able to get the flap handle to move and cycle up and down. Problem solved!! We [then] headed to our destination. We had a lot of extra gas with multiple other fields should the problem arise again.I truly believe the flaps/slats were locked out due to taking off with 15.2 degrees. I have never taken off with a flap setting that high. A write up was made.

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.

A large mcdonnell douglas widebody flight crew reported encountering a flap mechanical issue after takeoff. Problem resolved itself and the flight continued to its destination.