Narrative:

On takeoff from [runway] xxr in ZZZ; we experienced a stab trim failure when we became airborne. I was the pilot monitoring and my captain was the pilot flying. After rotating and in the first 500-1000 feet off the ground; he asked me to try my trim switch. We had just been passed off to departure so I tried my trim switch and was unsuccessful getting it to work; and then I contacted departure. They gave us a heading and climb to 5;000 feet. I set the altitude and heading; then the captain and I gave a quick check of circuit breakers and he called for the QRH. About that time; we were issued climb instructions; so I told ATC we wanted to stay at 5;000 feet and work on a trim issue. We asked for vectors while we were troubleshooting the problem. Right away; my captain asked for flaps 1 then flaps 5. He had disconnected the autothrottle and autopilot and was getting the aircraft trimmed out and easier to handle. We then started with the stabilizer out of trim QRH. When we hit a point in the checklist that allowed; we contacted dispatch and the captain had ops in ZZZ bring them up on the station frequency. It was determined that returning to ZZZ was our best option so the captain communicated to the flight attendants and passengers letting them know our status. I ran numbers through the [weight and balance system] and non-normals. The QRH then took us through the stab trim inop checklist. We completed all items and told ZZZ we were ready to return. We were vectored for a long final so we could be configured and trimmed out well. Upon contacting tower; I relayed that we wanted fire trucks available since we might have hot brakes. The landing was just like any other landing and we rolled to the end and taxied off. The trucks were there and checked our brakes and told us the temps were good. We ran the brake cooling in the [weight and balance system] and a 35 minute cool time came back. We taxied to the gate slowly where maintenance was waiting for us. They also checked the brakes for us. Upon inspection; they found that the electric motor had failed; which was interesting since we set the trim for takeoff. My captain did a great job of delegating and made it a non-event. We did [advise ATC] on this flight; and the one thing we noticed that later during vectors; ATC asked if we were [advising]. I was the pilot monitoring and thought that we had communicated that earlier in the flight. I should have made a clarification to make sure that they were aware.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported an elevator trim failure during climb out resulted in a return to the departure airport.

Narrative: On takeoff from [Runway] XXR in ZZZ; we experienced a stab trim failure when we became airborne. I was the Pilot Monitoring and my Captain was the Pilot Flying. After rotating and in the first 500-1000 feet off the ground; he asked me to try my trim switch. We had just been passed off to Departure so I tried my trim switch and was unsuccessful getting it to work; and then I contacted Departure. They gave us a heading and climb to 5;000 feet. I set the altitude and heading; then the Captain and I gave a quick check of circuit breakers and he called for the QRH. About that time; we were issued climb instructions; so I told ATC we wanted to stay at 5;000 feet and work on a trim issue. We asked for vectors while we were troubleshooting the problem. Right away; my Captain asked for flaps 1 then flaps 5. He had disconnected the autothrottle and autopilot and was getting the aircraft trimmed out and easier to handle. We then started with the Stabilizer Out of Trim QRH. When we hit a point in the checklist that allowed; we contacted Dispatch and the Captain had Ops in ZZZ bring them up on the station frequency. It was determined that returning to ZZZ was our best option so the Captain communicated to the flight attendants and passengers letting them know our status. I ran numbers through the [weight and balance system] and non-normals. The QRH then took us through the Stab Trim Inop Checklist. We completed all items and told ZZZ we were ready to return. We were vectored for a long final so we could be configured and trimmed out well. Upon contacting Tower; I relayed that we wanted fire trucks available since we might have hot brakes. The landing was just like any other landing and we rolled to the end and taxied off. The trucks were there and checked our brakes and told us the temps were good. We ran the brake cooling in the [weight and balance system] and a 35 minute cool time came back. We taxied to the gate slowly where Maintenance was waiting for us. They also checked the brakes for us. Upon inspection; they found that the electric motor had failed; which was interesting since we set the trim for takeoff. My Captain did a great job of delegating and made it a non-event. We did [advise ATC] on this flight; and the one thing we noticed that later during vectors; ATC asked if we were [advising]. I was the Pilot Monitoring and thought that we had communicated that earlier in the flight. I should have made a clarification to make sure that they were aware.

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.