A ce-750 flight crew declared an emergency and diverted when elevator pitch inputs jammed; causing a...

Narrative:

After engine start during the flight control check the captain made a comment during the aileron check that the controls felt a bit heavy but became normal as an additional actuation was completed. Additional actuations felt normal so we attributed this to picking up a cold-soaked airplane. Pitch and rudder controls were normal. The entire flight was VMC with no turbulence.the flight was normal until climbing through FL300 towards our assigned altitude of FL430. The captain first became aware of excessive 'clacker' noises caused by the pitch trim system. He disconnected the autopilot and stated that the pitch controls were stuck. I tried mine too and they were stuck. We agreed to stop the climb. At this point we reconfirmed that we were actually having a flight control issue and really needed to divert and land. I don't remember the sequence but we received a clearance to FL200 and ATC advised that ZZZ was at 1 o'clock and approximately 30 miles away. They gave us a 270 heading for vectors to the airport.we agreed to split the controls per the aileron/pitch jam memory items. When we did this the copilot's pitch controls remained jammed and the pilot's seemed free. I finished the pitch jam checklist as we were descending. Also I was trying to get charts and weather for the diversion airport. We were leveling at FL200 at this point and I could see ZZZ in the distance.all seemed okay until the captain said his controls felt jammed. But then they freed up so we continued the descent towards the airport and ran the approach and landing checklists. Slowing; we added flaps 5 without problems (we had discussed retracting the flaps if something abnormal occurred). When we added flaps 15; the captain briefly complained about his controls but then affirmed they were ok again before I retracted the flaps. I asked/suggested not going any further with the flaps and the captain agreed so I got flaps 15 numbers from the FMS.the approach and landing was stable and felt well controlled. I think at this point the captain had a feel where any binding would likely occur and he trimmed the plane to avoid putting the elevator there. We touched down normally and taxied off under our own power.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CE-750 flight crew declared an emergency and diverted when elevator pitch inputs jammed; causing abnormal stabilizer trim inputs to compensate for ineffective elevator inputs.

Narrative: After engine start during the flight control check the Captain made a comment during the aileron check that the controls felt a bit heavy but became normal as an additional actuation was completed. Additional actuations felt normal so we attributed this to picking up a cold-soaked airplane. Pitch and rudder controls were normal. The entire flight was VMC with no turbulence.The flight was normal until climbing through FL300 towards our assigned altitude of FL430. The Captain first became aware of excessive 'clacker' noises caused by the pitch trim system. He disconnected the autopilot and stated that the pitch controls were stuck. I tried mine too and they were stuck. We agreed to stop the climb. At this point we reconfirmed that we were actually having a flight control issue and really needed to divert and land. I don't remember the sequence but we received a clearance to FL200 and ATC advised that ZZZ was at 1 o'clock and approximately 30 miles away. They gave us a 270 heading for vectors to the airport.We agreed to split the controls per the aileron/pitch jam memory items. When we did this the copilot's pitch controls remained jammed and the pilot's seemed free. I finished the pitch jam checklist as we were descending. Also I was trying to get charts and weather for the diversion airport. We were leveling at FL200 at this point and I could see ZZZ in the distance.All seemed okay until the Captain said his controls felt jammed. But then they freed up so we continued the descent towards the airport and ran the approach and landing checklists. Slowing; we added flaps 5 without problems (we had discussed retracting the flaps if something abnormal occurred). When we added flaps 15; the Captain briefly complained about his controls but then affirmed they were OK again before I retracted the flaps. I asked/suggested not going any further with the flaps and the Captain agreed so I got flaps 15 numbers from the FMS.The approach and landing was stable and felt well controlled. I think at this point the Captain had a feel where any binding would likely occur and he trimmed the plane to avoid putting the elevator there. We touched down normally and taxied off under our own power.

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	937484
Time
Date	201103
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citation X (C750)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Aeroplane Flight Control
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

A ce-750 flight crew declared an emergency and diverted when elevator pitch inputs jammed; causing abnormal stabilizer trim inputs to compensate for ineffective elevator inputs.