Crj flight crew reported a flap malfunction on approach. A divert to a field with a longer runway en...

Narrative:

We were about to begin the arrival into dca when we first sent for the ATIS. Winds were advertised as 190 at 9; but the ceilings were too low to shoot the lda Z 19 (needed 700 ft); so they were putting aircraft onto the ILS 1. We were eventually vectored on and cleared for the approach. Outside of the baddn fix we asked for a wind check before continuing down the glideslope; winds were 200 at 12. We consulted our speed book to check the tailwind component and notified ATC that we needed to abandon the approach; so were given a vector onto a modified downwind at 3;000 feet. We cleaned up the aircraft and accelerated. I assume we were closing on an aircraft ahead as ATC instructed us to maintain 170 knots. Passing back through 200 knots; captain requested flaps 8; and then flaps 20. Almost immediately after selecting flaps 20; the flaps fail caution illuminated--flaps stuck at 8 deg--and captain called for the QRH. Before completing the QRH; ATC had begun vectoring us for the lda Z 19; but upon completion of the QRH we had made the decision to divert to iad. This decision was made due to the fact we were going to land with close to 2;000 pounds of fuel in dca and were fairly certain the lda Z 19 wouldn't take us low enough to break out; plus iad's runway was much longer. [ATC] followed up by asking if we wanted trucks; which we also said yes to. We notified dispatch through ACARS; the flight attendant; and captain addressed the passengers through the PA. What followed was an uneventful landing. Trucks swarmed but found no issues with the aircraft. One truck escorted us to the gate. While we had no reason to suspect that the aircraft still had flap issues; the last 4 entries in the maintenance logbook were related to the flaps; one for a flap fail message just like ours. Maintenance reset the system in both instances. While maintenance issues are usually entirely unpredictable; this one felt like it could have been prevented if proper care was taken to fix the flap system the first time the issue was detected and written up.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ flight crew reported a flap malfunction on approach. A divert to a field with a longer runway ensued. The flaps had been written up 4 times before and signed off by maintenance.

Narrative: We were about to begin the arrival into DCA when we first sent for the ATIS. Winds were advertised as 190 at 9; but the ceilings were too low to shoot the LDA Z 19 (needed 700 FT); so they were putting aircraft onto the ILS 1. We were eventually vectored on and cleared for the approach. Outside of the BADDN fix we asked for a wind check before continuing down the glideslope; winds were 200 at 12. We consulted our speed book to check the tailwind component and notified ATC that we needed to abandon the approach; so were given a vector onto a modified downwind at 3;000 feet. We cleaned up the aircraft and accelerated. I assume we were closing on an aircraft ahead as ATC instructed us to maintain 170 knots. Passing back through 200 knots; Captain requested flaps 8; and then flaps 20. Almost immediately after selecting flaps 20; the FLAPS FAIL caution illuminated--flaps stuck at 8 deg--and Captain called for the QRH. Before completing the QRH; ATC had begun vectoring us for the LDA Z 19; but upon completion of the QRH we had made the decision to divert to IAD. This decision was made due to the fact we were going to land with close to 2;000 pounds of fuel in DCA and were fairly certain the LDA Z 19 wouldn't take us low enough to break out; plus IAD's runway was much longer. [ATC] followed up by asking if we wanted trucks; which we also said yes to. We notified dispatch through ACARS; the flight attendant; and Captain addressed the passengers through the PA. What followed was an uneventful landing. Trucks swarmed but found no issues with the aircraft. One truck escorted us to the gate. While we had no reason to suspect that the aircraft still had flap issues; the last 4 entries in the maintenance logbook were related to the flaps; one for a FLAP FAIL message just like ours. Maintenance reset the system in both instances. While maintenance issues are usually entirely unpredictable; this one felt like it could have been prevented if proper care was taken to fix the flap system the first time the issue was detected and written up.

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	1585710
Time
Date	201810
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	DCA.Airport
State Reference	DC
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet CL65 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Crj flight crew reported a flap malfunction on approach. A divert to a field with a longer runway ensued. The flaps had been written up 4 times before and signed off by maintenance.