Narrative:

During approach on right hand base; pilot flying called for flaps 1. After positioning flap handle to flaps 1; EICAS message 'slat fail' appeared followed by 'shaker anticipated' and 'spoiler fail' messages. I informed ATC that we could not do the approach for now; that we had an issue that we had to look at and needed to break off the approach. ATC gave us a heading of 270 and to maintain 4;000 ft. I grab the QRH; while [the captain] was flying the aircraft. I quickly read through the QRH and returned to flap handle to zero position. The slats were stuck in their current position. The EICAS message would not go out. At that point [the captain] decided to exchange flight controls and he would run the QRH while I flew the aircraft. We exchanged flight controls. [The captain] read the QRH. While [the captain] was reading the QRH; ATC was asking us about our problem. I informed them that we would probably need to divert to [a nearby airport] because we had a slat/flap problem. They asked if we were declaring an emergency. I told them no; not at this time. I informed them that we would be doing half standard turns. (This was done with bank mode selected on the autopilot panel to limit our turns to 15 degrees max to comply with the QRH of 20 degree max in turns). After [the captain] ran the QRH; he came up with the conclusion that we would need the longer runways at [a nearby airport]. I informed ATC of our intentions on diverting to [a nearby airport]. (The weather was severe clear and we could see [the nearby airport] from our position). [The captain] went off VHF comm 1 to talk to the flight attendants about the [preparation] items. ATC handed me off to a different approach frequency. The new approach controller wanted to know if we need any assistance after we landed and if we were declaring an emergency. I told them we just needed the longest runway and we were not declaring an emergency. [The captain] finished the QRH and loaded the FMS with the approach and the speeds per the QRH. During the flight we informed operations. We informed dispatch via ACARS that we were diverting due to 'slat fail' message. At this point [the captain] took back over the pilot flying duties and I took back my pilot not flying duties. After returning to pilot not flying duties; I then went on the PA to inform the passengers on the status of the aircraft and the fact that we would be diverting; and they would be bused back over to [destination]. [The captain] landed and made the next to the last turn off of the runway. We stopped on taxiway to check our brake temperatures as per the last item of the QRH. I can say [that] due to the training I received this year in the sim; this 'slat fail' message/ diversion turned out to be a non event. We did what we were trained to do. During training it should be stressed; that the aircraft is burning fuel at a very fast rate and you are not going to get a failure message like this until you are in the airport pattern at a low altitude. We did not have diversion fuel on board since it was VFR. When we landed we had approximately 3;500 pounds of fuel on board. Total additional flight time was approximately 20 minutes. In the 3.5 years I have been at [company] this is one of the lowest fuel on board that I have landed with. We were lucky in the fact that it was a VFR day and there was not heavy traffic. ATC was very accommodating.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ-170 flight crew reported receiving SLAT FAIL message on approach. They broke off the approach; ran the procedure; and diverted to a nearby airport with longer runways.

Narrative: During approach on right hand base; pilot flying called for flaps 1. After positioning flap handle to flaps 1; EICAS message 'SLAT FAIL' appeared followed by 'SHAKER ANTICIPATED' and 'SPOILER FAIL' messages. I informed ATC that we could not do the approach for now; that we had an issue that we had to look at and needed to break off the approach. ATC gave us a heading of 270 and to maintain 4;000 FT. I grab the QRH; while [the Captain] was flying the aircraft. I quickly read through the QRH and returned to flap handle to zero position. The slats were stuck in their current position. The EICAS message would not go out. At that point [the Captain] decided to exchange flight controls and he would run the QRH while I flew the aircraft. We exchanged flight controls. [The Captain] read the QRH. While [the Captain] was reading the QRH; ATC was asking us about our problem. I informed them that we would probably need to divert to [a nearby airport] because we had a Slat/Flap problem. They asked if we were declaring an emergency. I told them no; not at this time. I informed them that we would be doing half standard turns. (This was done with bank mode selected on the autopilot panel to limit our turns to 15 degrees max to comply with the QRH of 20 degree max in turns). After [the Captain] ran the QRH; he came up with the conclusion that we would need the longer runways at [a nearby airport]. I informed ATC of our intentions on diverting to [a nearby airport]. (The weather was severe clear and we could see [the nearby airport] from our position). [The Captain] went off VHF comm 1 to talk to the flight attendants about the [preparation] items. ATC handed me off to a different Approach frequency. The new Approach Controller wanted to know if we need any assistance after we landed and if we were declaring an emergency. I told them we just needed the longest runway and we were not declaring an emergency. [The Captain] finished the QRH and loaded the FMS with the approach and the speeds per the QRH. During the flight we informed Operations. We informed Dispatch via ACARS that we were diverting due to 'SLAT FAIL' Message. At this point [the Captain] took back over the pilot flying duties and I took back my pilot not flying duties. After returning to pilot not flying duties; I then went on the PA to inform the passengers on the status of the aircraft and the fact that we would be diverting; and they would be bused back over to [destination]. [The Captain] landed and made the next to the last turn off of the runway. We stopped on taxiway to check our brake temperatures as per the last item of the QRH. I can say [that] due to the training I received this year in the SIM; this 'SLAT FAIL' message/ diversion turned out to be a non event. We did what we were trained to do. During training it should be stressed; that the aircraft is burning fuel at a very fast rate and you are not going to get a failure message like this until you are in the airport pattern at a low altitude. We did not have diversion fuel on board since it was VFR. When we landed we had approximately 3;500 LBS of fuel on board. Total additional flight time was approximately 20 minutes. In the 3.5 years I have been at [Company] this is one of the lowest fuel on board that I have landed with. We were lucky in the fact that it was a VFR day and there was not heavy traffic. ATC was very accommodating.

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.