A319 first officer reports abnormal pitch control during takeoff and climb; with continuous forward ...

Narrative:

During climb; found than greater than normal nose down stick pressure required to keep pitch on F/D bar. Continued climb to FL260. During climb still needed stick press nose down what seemed like higher than normal. Same stick inputs required for level flight. Autopilot would hold pitch to maintain altitude. Autopilot disconnect still needed to hold nose down stick pressure to hold alt. Contacted maintenance for any input they my have on our situation. No faults ever displayed on ECAM; status normal. Maintenance showed no abnormal readings from their telemetry. It was agreed by maintenance and the crew that a precautionary landing be made. ACARS dispatch with info on our diversion; they also were ok with our decision. [We] notified flight attendant of our precautionary landing; same with passengers; with emphasis on precautionary. Normal flaps 3 visual landing.maintenance found ELAC2-com or wiring from ACCLRM4 message in the FMGS. Don't know why we didn't get an ECAM message or fault on cockpit display. Some things are just going to happen when dealing with a machine as complicated as the airbus series of aircraft. We as a crew must always assess our threats; no matter how small; and react accordingly. This elac problem never presented itself on the ECAM; is this something that needs to be addressed in training as a problem with ECAM system?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 First Officer reports abnormal pitch control during takeoff and climb; with continuous forward pressure required on the side stick to maintain constant pitch. Crew elects to divert for maintenance where a faulty ELAC #2 accelerometer is diagnosed.

Narrative: During climb; found than greater than normal nose down stick pressure required to keep pitch on F/D bar. Continued climb to FL260. During climb still needed stick press nose down what seemed like higher than normal. Same stick inputs required for level flight. Autopilot would hold pitch to maintain altitude. Autopilot disconnect still needed to hold nose down stick pressure to hold alt. Contacted Maintenance for any input they my have on our situation. No faults ever displayed on ECAM; status normal. Maintenance showed no abnormal readings from their telemetry. It was agreed by Maintenance and the crew that a precautionary landing be made. ACARS Dispatch with info on our diversion; they also were OK with our decision. [We] notified Flight Attendant of our precautionary landing; same with passengers; with emphasis on precautionary. Normal flaps 3 visual landing.Maintenance found ELAC2-com or wiring from ACCLRM4 message in the FMGS. Don't know why we didn't get an ECAM message or fault on cockpit display. Some things are just going to happen when dealing with a machine as complicated as the Airbus series of aircraft. We as a crew must always assess our threats; no matter how small; and react accordingly. This ELAC problem never presented itself on the ECAM; is this something that needs to be addressed in training as a problem with ECAM system?

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	966718
Time
Date	201108
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Aeroplane Flight Control
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

A319 first officer reports abnormal pitch control during takeoff and climb; with continuous forward pressure required on the side stick to maintain constant pitch. Crew elects to divert for maintenance where a faulty elac #2 accelerometer is diagnosed.