Narrative:

On our descent/approach; we had the elevator trim seize. It could not be moved electrically or manually. There was slight forward pressure on the flight controls; which the autopilot could not overcome. We declared an emergency; ran the appropriate checklist; and continued the visual approach to landing without further incident. I was acting PIC; but was not the pilot flying. I asked my partner if he was having trouble with the controls; which he confirmed. I then asked him that if he needed anything; to advise me to what extent he needed help and tell me how he felt about the situation and the controls. As we slowed; the forward pressure on the controls became more obvious; so at that point we decided to declare an emergency. My partner flew and talked on the radio telling ATC what he wanted while I ran the checklist. After running the checklist; I resumed communication with ATC while my partner and I discussed different possible scenarios of landing outcomes. After that; we felt confident with our decisions and the outcome as well as our preparation. We did not have time to brief the passengers and were too busy with immediate task at hand. After landing we regained full control of the plane and had normal taxi to the ramp. We had a similar situation on the preceding flight; but it wasn't noticed until on short final. However; the plane was in trim and it didn't affect the controls; but might have if we would have had to go around. Once on the ground the trim worked almost immediately then; so at that point I didn't feel a further discrepancy existed anymore. It has been my experience here at this company that when issues like this are discussed with maintenance control; it is usually shrugged off and we are told to continue on since the problem doesn't exist anymore. A maintenance issue for me had existed previously a few months earlier and I felt I was being strong armed by the company to fly and was told that I was 'not cooperating with the company.' I feel that this treatment and intimidation by the company lead me to believe that calling the company would not do anything about this issue. Next time when I have an issue I will call and stand my ground and rely on my own personal experience; not the company's inexperience or intimidation tactics to pressure me to fly when a possible maintenance issue exist that should be 'at least examined by a mechanic before flight.' the bottom line this holiday/winter season; don't fly a broken airplane; even if you are pressured by the company or threaten to be brought to the crew base for retraining.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CE560XL elevator trim could not be moved using electric trim or manually on approach; so an emergency was declared. After landing the elevator and trim control was returned to normal operation.

Narrative: On our descent/approach; we had the elevator trim seize. It could not be moved electrically or manually. There was slight forward pressure on the flight controls; which the autopilot could not overcome. We declared an emergency; ran the appropriate checklist; and continued the visual approach to landing without further incident. I was acting PIC; but was not the pilot flying. I asked my partner if he was having trouble with the controls; which he confirmed. I then asked him that if he needed anything; to advise me to what extent he needed help and tell me how he felt about the situation and the controls. As we slowed; the forward pressure on the controls became more obvious; so at that point we decided to declare an emergency. My partner flew and talked on the radio telling ATC what he wanted while I ran the checklist. After running the checklist; I resumed communication with ATC while my partner and I discussed different possible scenarios of landing outcomes. After that; we felt confident with our decisions and the outcome as well as our preparation. We did not have time to brief the passengers and were too busy with immediate task at hand. After landing we regained full control of the plane and had normal taxi to the ramp. We had a similar situation on the preceding flight; but it wasn't noticed until on short final. However; the plane was in trim and it didn't affect the controls; but might have if we would have had to go around. Once on the ground the trim worked almost immediately then; so at that point I didn't feel a further discrepancy existed anymore. It has been my experience here at this company that when issues like this are discussed with Maintenance Control; it is usually shrugged off and we are told to continue on since the problem doesn't exist anymore. A maintenance issue for me had existed previously a few months earlier and I felt I was being strong armed by the company to fly and was told that I was 'not cooperating with the company.' I feel that this treatment and intimidation by the company lead me to believe that calling the company would not do anything about this issue. Next time when I have an issue I will call and stand my ground and rely on my own personal experience; not the company's inexperience or intimidation tactics to pressure me to fly when a possible maintenance issue exist that should be 'at least examined by a Mechanic before flight.' The bottom line this holiday/winter season; don't fly a broken airplane; even if you are pressured by the company or threaten to be brought to the crew base for retraining.

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.