Narrative:

After an uneventful flight while on base leg for a visual approach the first officer called for flaps down.shortly thereafter an asymmetry became apparent and the flap sync caution light illuminated and the outboard flaps indicated stuck at approximately 3/4 deflection. We abandoned the approach; ran the checklist and attempted; unsuccessfully; to restore flaps to the mid position. After doing so failed to solve the problem we declared an emergency and asked for a diversion to a more suitable airport. After contacting approach we started setting up for the approach. At this point we began getting concerned about our fuel state and asked approach to expedite and eventually called minimum fuel. Upon receiving a wind update we decided to change runways to one which had almost a direct headwind of 14 KTS. At this time we cycled through the flaps again and were able to obtain the must symmetric position possible which indicated from the cockpit as forward flaps mid; inboards mid; and outboards at about 3/4. From the cockpit we could see that the right outboard flap was mostly retracted (could only see outer portion) and the left outboard appeared mid. We flew final at 145-150 IAS to touchdown. Fuel on touchdown was approximately 570 pounds. After landing the flaps were left in their last position and the trim was returned to neutral. Post flight inspection revealed damage to the right outboard flap and a very asymmetric deployment of that flap.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A P180 flight crew abandoned their approach; declared and emergency and diverted to an airport with more suitable runways when they suffered and extreme flap asymmetry condition requiring full aileron trim and deflection to control roll and heading. The approach and landing were made at an increased speed commensurate with their ability to maintain control.

Narrative: After an uneventful flight while on base leg for a visual approach the First Officer called for flaps down.Shortly thereafter an asymmetry became apparent and the flap sync caution light illuminated and the outboard flaps indicated stuck at approximately 3/4 deflection. We abandoned the approach; ran the checklist and attempted; unsuccessfully; to restore flaps to the mid position. After doing so failed to solve the problem we declared an emergency and asked for a diversion to a more suitable airport. After contacting Approach we started setting up for the approach. At this point we began getting concerned about our fuel state and asked Approach to expedite and eventually called minimum fuel. Upon receiving a wind update we decided to change runways to one which had almost a direct headwind of 14 KTS. At this time we cycled through the flaps again and were able to obtain the must symmetric position possible which indicated from the cockpit as forward flaps mid; inboards mid; and outboards at about 3/4. From the cockpit we could see that the right outboard flap was mostly retracted (could only see outer portion) and the left outboard appeared mid. We flew final at 145-150 IAS to touchdown. Fuel on touchdown was approximately 570 LBS. After landing the flaps were left in their last position and the trim was returned to neutral. Post flight inspection revealed damage to the right outboard flap and a very asymmetric deployment of that flap.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.