Narrative:

After pushing back from the gate the captain and I noticed a status message that said 'flap motor' as I recall. Based on the status message flow sheet we were not required to return to the gate for this message. We were required to depart flaps 20 that morning due to the weight and a low level windshear. Following a successful flaps 20 takeoff the captain ordered flaps 15 on schedule; but the flaps remained stuck at flaps 20 position with a trailing edge flap caution message on the EICAS. He took the radios and controls while I ran the checklist. Eventually we requested a holding pattern at 3000 feet AGL over the airport; where we completed the QRH procedure for a trailing edge flap emergency. Here is where some confusion comes into this case. With the QRH we were able to match the flaps to the flap handle position. We moved them to flaps 15. It says in the QRH to 'set flaps as required'. What exactly does that mean? Does is mean obtain a safe flap setting for a landing and land as soon as conditions permit or does it mean raise them using alternate means and continue on to destination knowing you will have the rest of the QRH to deal with on the other end. This QRH procedure is sort of confusing in its wording. Based on the fact we obtained a safe landing flap setting we decided to return to ZZZ and not move the flaps anymore. The concern was with the flap motor status message and the QRH procedure that if you got the flaps up you wouldn't be able to get them down again. Unfortunately; this aircraft could not dump fuel so we had to orbit for 3.5 hrs to burn the fuel down to a safe landing weight. At this point we brought up the mechanic and made sure we didn't miss anything on the QRH and asked for his input. We also called dispatch and maintenance. Eventually they and the [chief pilot] were in the loop. There were some suggestions on that satphone call about raising the flaps on the alternate system and going proceeding to destination. We decided as a crew that we did not want to risk the flaps getting stuck up and a no-flap landing with 240 people on the plane. The decision seemed to be acceptable to management and we pushed on with that plan and landed several hours later.also of note; this aircraft was pretty new. There are no qrhs that seem to match the list of tail numbers for this aircraft. Also of note; the QRH emergency performance tables use kilos instead of pounds for all weight measurement. Considering all the [other] aircraft use pounds; it was confusing and added room for error on those speed calculations by being unstandardized. Other than that; the landing was fine and we taxied back to the gate. Maintenance tried to fix a plane that seemed to work part of the time and fail part of the time. It took over 24 hrs to come up with a solution to the flap malfunction.need a better definition of what 'as necessary' means on the QRH for the flap procedure and digital pubs that match the tail number. Some sort of memo letting pilots know that the tables are in kilos verses pounds or updated tables that match our operations. The rule on the aircraft was in lbs as was the weight and balance paperwork. Why would we have QRH procedures in kilos?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew reported flap malfunction after takeoff.

Narrative: After pushing back from the gate the Captain and I noticed a status message that said 'Flap Motor' as I recall. Based on the status message flow sheet we were not required to return to the gate for this message. We were required to depart flaps 20 that morning due to the weight and a Low Level Windshear. Following a successful flaps 20 takeoff the Captain ordered flaps 15 on schedule; but the flaps remained stuck at flaps 20 position with a trailing edge flap caution message on the EICAS. He took the radios and controls while I ran the checklist. Eventually we requested a holding pattern at 3000 feet AGL over the airport; where we completed the QRH procedure for a trailing edge flap emergency. Here is where some confusion comes into this case. With the QRH we were able to match the flaps to the flap handle position. We moved them to flaps 15. It says in the QRH to 'set flaps as required'. What exactly does that mean? Does is mean obtain a safe flap setting for a landing and land as soon as conditions permit or does it mean raise them using alternate means and continue on to destination knowing you will have the rest of the QRH to deal with on the other end. This QRH procedure is sort of confusing in its wording. Based on the fact we obtained a safe landing flap setting we decided to return to ZZZ and not move the flaps anymore. The concern was with the flap motor status message and the QRH procedure that if you got the flaps up you wouldn't be able to get them down again. Unfortunately; this aircraft could not dump fuel so we had to orbit for 3.5 hrs to burn the fuel down to a safe landing weight. At this point we brought up the mechanic and made sure we didn't miss anything on the QRH and asked for his input. We also called dispatch and maintenance. Eventually they and the [Chief Pilot] were in the loop. There were some suggestions on that Satphone call about raising the flaps on the alternate system and going proceeding to destination. We decided as a crew that we did not want to risk the flaps getting stuck up and a no-flap landing with 240 people on the plane. The decision seemed to be acceptable to management and we pushed on with that plan and landed several hours later.Also of note; this aircraft was pretty new. There are no QRHs that seem to match the list of tail numbers for this aircraft. Also of note; the QRH emergency performance tables use Kilos instead of pounds for all weight measurement. Considering all the [other] aircraft use pounds; it was confusing and added room for error on those speed calculations by being unstandardized. Other than that; the landing was fine and we taxied back to the gate. Maintenance tried to fix a plane that seemed to work part of the time and fail part of the time. It took over 24 hrs to come up with a solution to the flap malfunction.Need a better definition of what 'As Necessary' means on the QRH for the flap procedure and digital pubs that match the tail number. Some sort of memo letting pilots know that the tables are in Kilos verses pounds or updated tables that match our operations. The rule on the aircraft was in lbs as was the weight and balance paperwork. Why would we have QRH procedures in Kilos?

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.