Narrative:

During climbout; we got an 'le slat asym' EICAS message after moving the flap handle from flaps 1 to flaps up. We coordinated a level-off with departure control at 7000' MSL (later modified to 6000' to stay out of an overcast layer); and then a turn to the north of the airport to work the checklist and take care of the problem. I was the pilot flying; the captain and relief pilot read and performed the QRH checklist for le flap asym. With the flap indicator stuck in the middle between flaps up and flaps 1; we were directed to use trailing edge flaps 20 and a vref 30 + 30 for our landing speed. After the usual coordination with the flight attendants; a PA to the passengers; a call to dispatch to tell them about our situation; and coordination with approach control to tell them our intentions; we started to configure the aircraft for our approach. The flap handle was set to flaps 1; we noticed no movement of the needles on the flap gauge or a change of the minimum speeds on our speed tape/airspeed indicator (the aircraft has the flat-panel modification). As we continued to slow and configure; the flap gauge continued to stay stuck in the intermediate position between up and 1; and there was still no change in the speed tape indications. Finally; as we continued to question what the gauges were telling us; we elected to turn off both the autopilot and autothrottles for the change from flaps 15 to flaps 20 to see if there was any pitch or drag change when we did so. There was neither. This led us to believe that we were not getting any trailing edge flaps at all. We accelerated and moved the flap handle back to up; and started to analyze the problem further. We made more calls; again to dispatch and to maintenance; trying to further troubleshoot the problem. We finally decided to attempt to configure the flaps again; this time using the relief pilot as a cabin observer; to see if the flaps were actually moving or not; with the plan that if they did move; we would fly a flaps 20 approach dictated by the checklist; and if they didn't; we would perform the no flap/no slat landing procedure and fly a no flap/no slat approach to a landing. We again slowed and configured; again had no movement on either the flap gauge or the speed tape; and also had a visual confirmation from the relief pilot that it didn't appear the flaps were moving as well. So; we performed the no flap/no slat landing checklist and told approach we were ready to fly our approach to runway xx. We got our gear down early to continue to burn fuel to reduce our landing speed; then I flew an uneventful no flap visual approach and landing. We rolled the aircraft out to the end of xx; cleared the runway on taxiway er; and had ZZZ command take a look at the tires and brakes. Once we were sure we were good to taxi we had airport command take another look at the brakes in the southeast holding area; then taxied uneventfully to gate. We then performed the after landing checklist minus setting the brakes; then debriefed maintenance and called it a night.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 EICAS alerted LE SLAT ASYM after selecting flaps UP from flaps 1 after takeoff. Trailing edge flaps would not deploy. An emergency was declared and the aircraft returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: During climbout; we got an 'LE SLAT ASYM' EICAS message after moving the flap handle from flaps 1 to flaps UP. We coordinated a level-off with departure control at 7000' MSL (later modified to 6000' to stay out of an overcast layer); and then a turn to the north of the airport to work the checklist and take care of the problem. I was the pilot flying; the Captain and Relief Pilot read and performed the QRH checklist for LE FLAP ASYM. With the flap indicator stuck in the middle between flaps UP and flaps 1; we were directed to use trailing edge flaps 20 and a VREF 30 + 30 for our landing speed. After the usual coordination with the flight attendants; a PA to the passengers; a call to dispatch to tell them about our situation; and coordination with Approach Control to tell them our intentions; we started to configure the aircraft for our approach. The flap handle was set to flaps 1; we noticed no movement of the needles on the flap gauge or a change of the minimum speeds on our speed tape/airspeed indicator (the aircraft has the flat-panel modification). As we continued to slow and configure; the flap gauge continued to stay stuck in the intermediate position between UP and 1; and there was still no change in the speed tape indications. Finally; as we continued to question what the gauges were telling us; we elected to turn off both the autopilot and autothrottles for the change from flaps 15 to flaps 20 to see if there was any pitch or drag change when we did so. There was neither. This led us to believe that we were not getting any trailing edge flaps at all. We accelerated and moved the flap handle back to UP; and started to analyze the problem further. We made more calls; again to dispatch and to maintenance; trying to further troubleshoot the problem. We finally decided to attempt to configure the flaps again; this time using the relief pilot as a cabin observer; to see if the flaps were actually moving or not; with the plan that if they did move; we would fly a flaps 20 approach dictated by the checklist; and if they didn't; we would perform the No Flap/No Slat Landing procedure and fly a no flap/no slat approach to a landing. We again slowed and configured; again had no movement on either the flap gauge or the speed tape; and also had a visual confirmation from the Relief Pilot that it didn't appear the flaps were moving as well. So; we performed the No Flap/No Slat Landing checklist and told approach we were ready to fly our approach to Runway XX. We got our gear down early to continue to burn fuel to reduce our landing speed; then I flew an uneventful no flap visual approach and landing. We rolled the aircraft out to the end of XX; cleared the runway on taxiway ER; and had ZZZ Command take a look at the tires and brakes. Once we were sure we were good to taxi we had airport Command take another look at the brakes in the SE Holding area; then taxied uneventfully to gate. We then performed the After Landing checklist minus setting the brakes; then debriefed maintenance and called it a night.

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.