37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1368788 |
Time | |
Date | 201607 |
Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
State Reference | US |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700) |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
Flight Phase | Climb |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Component | |
Aircraft Component | Elevator |
Person 1 | |
Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
Events | |
Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
Upon initial climb out I noticed as the pilot flying that I had to put a lot of left aileron in to turn the aircraft to the left. On climb-out though with the speed increases quickly the aircraft required less left aileron to maneuver; it was still far more than I have had to use on previous flights. I elected to hand fly the aircraft once we were in the flight levels and determined that the aircraft was safe to continue to fly. While in the descent we were able to notice that the left elevator carrot was 1/4 carrot higher than the level mark while the right elevator carrot was level. Also the rudder carrot was wiggling back and forth a lot. This was all while the autopilot was on. We were approaching 10;000 feet at this point and rather than send messages back and forth to mx I elected to bring one of the deadheading cas on my flight who is also a simulator instructor up to the cockpit to sit in the observer's seat and assist and be at the very least an extra set of eyes. With him in the seat I began to hand fly the aircraft and it indeed started to get back to the characteristics from when we took off as the aircraft slowed and required a lot of left aileron to turn left (15-30 degrees). While diagnosing this initially and with a 7000 ft assigned altitude I passed through this altitude to 6500 and then returned to 7000. We notified ATC at this time that we had a flight control issue. We came up with a quick plan that if at final approach speed the aircraft required more than the 30 or so degrees to turn left we would execute a go-around and burn off fuel and return to the airport. The observer notified the fas that we had an issue. Once on final with a small crosswind from the left 080/4 I had to twice input left aileron and my hand hit my knee while doing this but I felt I could control the aircraft. We continued the landing without incident beyond the excessive flight control inputs required. Airport fire and rescue lined the runway as a precaution.I do not know why the actual event occurred but once at the gate we were able to have a closer look at the elevator controls. Unless you pushed forward and pulled back with a lot of force both elevator carrots would not go to full deflection. When the flight control check was performed I observed the carrots going to full scale but the first officer was using force just as I would have to do the check.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: CRJ-700 Captain reported he had to put in more than the usual amount of left aileron in order to make a left turn. Post-flight inspection revealed the elevators were out of sync.
Narrative: Upon initial climb out I noticed as the pilot flying that I had to put a lot of left aileron in to turn the aircraft to the left. On climb-out though with the speed increases quickly the aircraft required less left aileron to maneuver; it was still far more than I have had to use on previous flights. I elected to hand fly the aircraft once we were in the flight levels and determined that the aircraft was safe to continue to fly. While in the descent we were able to notice that the left elevator carrot was 1/4 carrot higher than the level mark while the right elevator carrot was level. Also the rudder carrot was wiggling back and forth a lot. This was all while the Autopilot was on. We were approaching 10;000 feet at this point and rather than send messages back and forth to MX I elected to bring one of the deadheading CAs on my flight who is also a simulator instructor up to the cockpit to sit in the observer's seat and assist and be at the very least an extra set of eyes. With him in the seat I began to hand fly the aircraft and it indeed started to get back to the characteristics from when we took off as the aircraft slowed and required a lot of left aileron to turn left (15-30 degrees). While diagnosing this initially and with a 7000 ft assigned altitude I passed through this altitude to 6500 and then returned to 7000. We notified ATC at this time that we had a flight control issue. We came up with a quick plan that if at final approach speed the aircraft required more than the 30 or so degrees to turn left we would execute a go-around and burn off fuel and return to the airport. The observer notified the FAs that we had an issue. Once on final with a small crosswind from the left 080/4 I had to twice input left aileron and my hand hit my knee while doing this but I felt I could control the aircraft. We continued the landing without incident beyond the excessive flight control inputs required. Airport Fire and Rescue lined the runway as a precaution.I do not know why the actual event occurred but once at the gate we were able to have a closer look at the elevator controls. Unless you pushed forward and pulled back with a lot of force both elevator carrots would not go to full deflection. When the flight control check was performed I observed the carrots going to full scale but the FO was using force just as I would have to do the check.
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.