<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1098872, July 2013

A B737-800 developed an elevator flutter with a frequency of about 3 oscillations per second with climb power applied; an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Attributes
ACN	1098872
Time
Date	201307
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Elevator
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 210 Flight Crew Total 25000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

After departure and above the cloud deck where it is smooth my first officer and I noticed a continuous elevator oscillation. We leveled off around 14;000 ft and oscillation stopped. We continued climb and as soon as climb power was introduced oscillation started again. This time we leveled off at FL240 and after discussion I declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport for an overweight landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-800 developed an elevator flutter with a frequency of about 3 oscillations per second with climb power applied; an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: After departure and above the cloud deck where it is smooth my First Officer and I noticed a continuous elevator oscillation. We leveled off around 14;000 FT and oscillation stopped. We continued climb and as soon as climb power was introduced oscillation started again. This time we leveled off at FL240 and after discussion I declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport for an overweight landing.

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.