Narrative:

While reviewing the logbook prior to the event flights; we noticed that the aircraft had been written up 3 times in the previous 3 days for a main pitch trim system failure in flight. The entries indicated that the system had been reset and a couple of parts changed and that ops check was good. Our first flight was uneventful. Then while operating the second flight; around the top of climb; we received a master warning EICAS message ptrim main system inoperative. We performed the QRH checklist which had us disconnect the main pitch trim system and disconnect the autopilot. We then continued to ZZZ as per the QRH and notified the company of our maintenance situation. Maintenance met the a/C in ZZZ and decided to swap the main pitch trip cut out switch with the cockpit recirc fan switch believing for some reason that the problem might be there. Subsequent ops check was good. We then departed on our next flight but approximately 20 minutes into the flight during the climb; we again received a red master warning EICAS ptrim main system inoperative message. We ran the QRH again and then notified the company. We also descended out of rvsm airspace due to the autopilot now being inoperative. The company wanted us to continue to iah and the flight landed safely without further incident. This a/C had been written up 3 times in the previous 3 days for the same issue that we had twice in one day. While I understand the pressure to keep the operation running smoothly; there is no reason that there should have been a failure of a flight control system five times in a four day period of time without major components of that system being checked more thoroughly and perhaps changed out. At this time; my ca and I are still unaware of the cause of the failure of the pitch trim system. Spend a little more time fixing these problems early on before they become repetitive maintenance discrepancies. Failure of any component of a flight control system is a big deal.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB145 First Officer reports flying an aircraft that had been written up three times in the previous three days for main pitch trim failure. The discrepancy occurs two more times on the next two legs.

Narrative: While reviewing the logbook prior to the event flights; we noticed that the aircraft had been written up 3 times in the previous 3 days for a Main Pitch Trim system failure in flight. The entries indicated that the system had been reset and a couple of parts changed and that ops check was good. Our first flight was uneventful. Then while operating the second flight; around the top of climb; we received a master warning EICAS message PTRIM MAIN SYS INOP. We performed the QRH checklist which had us disconnect the main pitch trim system and disconnect the autopilot. We then continued to ZZZ as per the QRH and notified the company of our Maintenance situation. Maintenance met the A/C in ZZZ and decided to swap the main pitch trip cut out switch with the cockpit RECIRC fan switch believing for some reason that the problem might be there. Subsequent ops check was good. We then departed on our next flight but approximately 20 minutes into the flight during the climb; we again received a red master warning EICAS PTRIM MAIN SYS INOP message. We ran the QRH again and then notified the company. We also descended out of RVSM airspace due to the autopilot now being INOP. The Company wanted us to continue to IAH and the flight landed safely without further incident. This A/C had been written up 3 times in the previous 3 days for the same issue that we had twice in one day. While I understand the pressure to keep the operation running smoothly; there is no reason that there should have been a failure of a flight control system five times in a four day period of time without major components of that system being checked more thoroughly and perhaps changed out. At this time; my CA and I are still unaware of the cause of the failure of the pitch trim system. Spend a little more time fixing these problems early on before they become repetitive Maintenance discrepancies. Failure of any component of a flight control system is a big deal.

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.