A CRJ900 ED1 alerted flaps fail on final approach as flaps 45 were selected and flaps 45 set. Since ...

Narrative:

During the approach in VMC conditions and high winds; upon selection of flaps to 45 degrees a flaps fail caution message appeared on ED1. The flaps had failed at 45 degrees with the flap selection handle at 45 degree. The situation was rapidly assessed and after determining that the flaps had failed at 45 degrees which is normal landing configuration with the flap selection handle matching the position at which the flaps had failed and all systems seemed to be operating normally while the aircraft did not display any abnormal flight characteristics (no buffeting or flight performance degradation of any sort) the decision to continue the approach to a normal landing was made. Due to the low level; high winds and nature of the failure it was estimated that a go around could have potentially had more dangerous implications than the decision to continue to land and then perform the required checklist. An emergency was not declared since we got very busy assessing the situation and systems operation and the aircraft behaved in a completely normal way albeit the flight control malfunction. Upon landing the flaps were left at 45 degrees; ATC was informed that the flaps would remain at 45 degrees until arriving at the gate due to a system malfunction (and thus prevent misunderstandings). After talking to maintenance the flaps reset procedure was performed in accordance with the manual. The reset was successful and the aircraft continue on revenue flying in accordance with the before mentioned supplement I believe that considering all factors the right decision was made. Judgment and experience in aircraft type were important contributing factors in making such decision. A go around would have required a change of aircraft configuration specifically 'flaps' which was the malfunctioning system not knowing what could have happened then. Since the aircraft behaved normally and the flaps had failed in the normal landing configuration it made to us better sense to accomplish the landing than executing a go around. Perhaps one area to consider next time would be declaring an emergency. In this case; due to time constraints (we were very busy assessing the situation and potential consequences as well as verifying the normal operations of aircraft systems) that such was not declared.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ900 ED1 alerted FLAPS FAIL on final approach as flaps 45 were selected and flaps 45 set. Since flaps 45 is the normal landing flap setting no crew action was taken and the flaps were left at 45 to the gate where a successful reset was accomplished.

Narrative: During the approach in VMC conditions and high winds; upon selection of flaps to 45 degrees a FLAPS FAIL caution message appeared on ED1. The flaps had failed at 45 degrees with the flap selection handle at 45 degree. The situation was rapidly assessed and after determining that the flaps had failed at 45 degrees which is normal landing configuration with the flap selection handle matching the position at which the flaps had failed and all systems seemed to be operating normally while the aircraft did not display any abnormal flight characteristics (no buffeting or flight performance degradation of any sort) the decision to continue the approach to a normal landing was made. Due to the low level; high winds and nature of the failure it was estimated that a go around could have potentially had more dangerous implications than the decision to continue to land and then perform the required checklist. An emergency was not declared since we got very busy assessing the situation and systems operation and the aircraft behaved in a completely normal way albeit the flight control malfunction. Upon landing the flaps were left at 45 degrees; ATC was informed that the flaps would remain at 45 degrees until arriving at the gate due to a system malfunction (and thus prevent misunderstandings). After talking to maintenance the FLAPS reset procedure was performed in accordance with the manual. The reset was successful and the aircraft continue on revenue flying in accordance with the before mentioned Supplement I believe that considering all factors the right decision was made. Judgment and experience in aircraft type were important contributing factors in making such decision. A go around would have required a change of aircraft configuration specifically 'flaps' which was the malfunctioning system not knowing what could have happened then. Since the aircraft behaved normally and the flaps had failed in the normal landing configuration it made to us better sense to accomplish the landing than executing a go around. Perhaps one area to consider next time would be declaring an emergency. In this case; due to time constraints (we were very busy assessing the situation and potential consequences as well as verifying the normal operations of aircraft systems) that such was not declared.

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.

Attributes
ACN	908105
Time
Date	201009
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 900 (CRJ900)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Component
Aircraft Component	Trailing Edge Flap
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

A CRJ900 ED1 alerted flaps fail on final approach as flaps 45 were selected and flaps 45 set. Since flaps 45 is the normal landing flap setting no crew action was taken and the flaps were left at 45 to the gate where a successful reset was accomplished.