Narrative:

Climbing out of 20;000 ft; my first officer asked me to try the rudder trim because she couldn't get it to work. I tried to turn the knob and there was not only no indication of it turning; but there was no rudder response. The rudder could move with the rudder pedals. We notified maintenance control immediately on ACARS and then decided to try satcom to have a better stream of communication between maintenance control and dispatch. Satcom was extremely difficult as it kept losing the signal but between brief discussions on satcom and ACARS transmissions; I (with agreement from all crew members) exercised my captain emergency authority to pull 3 circuit breakers on the overhead (maintenance control explained the location). We then discussed with dispatch the option of diverting. We decided on the better of the two options even though it was further away because we thought the maintenance and communication and options would be better. It was not a 'land at the nearest suitable airport' problem. We told the controlling agency that we needed to divert (not declaring an emergency yet) and they gave us vectors and handed us off to the controlling agency shortly. ATC had asked us if we were landing overweight and we told them we were. (We were 10;000 pounds overweight and dispatch and maintenance control knew this as well). We were told that there would be holding unless we declared an emergency. Just before that; our fuel imbalance EICAS message came on and there was a large discrepancy in the wing tanks so we decided that not knowing where the rudder trim was and where it could go was so unpredictable; we decided holding was not a good idea so we declared an emergency and made a smooth landing. Fire equipment met us on the ground and made a quick visual inspection. We had anticipated and told everybody (ATC; passengers and flight attendants) that we expected a normal landing (therefore no cabin prep or advisory was made...we didn't feel the need as aircraft control was normal). We then taxied normally to a hardstand and spoke with several maintenance people who decided very timely to give us a new aircraft that was at a gate. (They didn't know how long it could take to fix our rudder actuator and had to borrow a part and equipment to gain access). I want to thank all the people who handled us so well and got all our passengers; baggage and catering onto the new aircraft in less than 2 hours.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300's rudder trim failed after takeoff. The trouble shooting process did not solve the problem so the crew diverted to an enroute airport for an overweight landing. An emergency was declared.

Narrative: Climbing out of 20;000 FT; my First Officer asked me to try the rudder trim because she couldn't get it to work. I tried to turn the knob and there was not only no indication of it turning; but there was no rudder response. The rudder could move with the rudder pedals. We notified Maintenance Control immediately on ACARS and then decided to try SATCOM to have a better stream of communication between Maintenance Control and Dispatch. SATCOM was extremely difficult as it kept losing the signal but between brief discussions on SATCOM and ACARS transmissions; I (with agreement from all crew members) exercised my Captain emergency authority to pull 3 circuit breakers on the overhead (Maintenance Control explained the location). We then discussed with Dispatch the option of diverting. We decided on the better of the two options even though it was further away because we thought the maintenance and communication and options would be better. It was not a 'land at the nearest suitable airport' problem. We told the controlling agency that we needed to divert (not declaring an emergency yet) and they gave us vectors and handed us off to the controlling agency shortly. ATC had asked us if we were landing overweight and we told them we were. (We were 10;000 LBS overweight and Dispatch and Maintenance Control knew this as well). We were told that there would be holding unless we declared an emergency. Just before that; our fuel imbalance EICAS message came on and there was a large discrepancy in the wing tanks so we decided that not knowing where the rudder trim was and where it could go was so unpredictable; we decided holding was not a good idea so we declared an emergency and made a smooth landing. Fire equipment met us on the ground and made a quick visual inspection. We had anticipated and told everybody (ATC; passengers and Flight Attendants) that we expected a normal landing (therefore no cabin prep or advisory was made...we didn't feel the need as aircraft control was normal). We then taxied normally to a hardstand and spoke with several maintenance people who decided very timely to give us a new aircraft that was at a gate. (They didn't know how long it could take to fix our rudder actuator and had to borrow a part and equipment to gain access). I want to thank ALL the people who handled us so well and got all our passengers; baggage and catering onto the new aircraft in less than 2 hours.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.