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37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
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Air carrier flight crew diverted to guam due to flight control malfunction.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1582734 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201810 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | KZAK.ARTCC |
| State Reference | HI |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Type 8352 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe |
Narrative:
Captain flying; first officer monitoring. At 39;000 ft with autopilot a coupled; we felt (can be described as) a kick. It was enough that we both took notice. It happened a second and then a third time. We then elected to kick off the autopilot and feel what was happening. We both agreed that something was not right and that the aircraft controls were doing something that was not normal for our phase of flight. We made adjustments to the rudder trim while getting the QRH out. Rudder trim seemed to be having an unusual effect; meaning a little trim was pushing and pulling the aileron trim pointer on the control wheel in large movements (not the usual amount). At this time we felt there [was] something wrong with our control system and elected to return to gum; as we were heading into an ETOPS flight with no suitable airports in the area. We [notified flight service] on HF; as we were unsure of the actual problem so we unable to predict whether it would get worse or not. Once on a direct track to guam we notified dispatch; maintenance; and went through [emergency checklist] with flight attendants. We landed in gum without incident.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air Carrier flight crew diverted to Guam due to flight control malfunction.
Narrative: Captain flying; First Officer monitoring. At 39;000 FT with autopilot A coupled; we felt (can be described as) a kick. It was enough that we both took notice. It happened a second and then a third time. We then elected to kick off the autopilot and feel what was happening. We both agreed that something was not right and that the aircraft controls were doing something that was not normal for our phase of flight. We made adjustments to the rudder trim while getting the QRH out. Rudder trim seemed to be having an unusual effect; meaning a little trim was pushing and pulling the aileron trim pointer on the control wheel in large movements (not the usual amount). At this time we felt there [was] something wrong with our control system and elected to return to GUM; as we were heading into an ETOPS flight with no suitable airports in the area. We [notified Flight Service] on HF; as we were unsure of the actual problem so we unable to predict whether it would get worse or not. Once on a direct track to Guam we notified Dispatch; Maintenance; and went through [emergency checklist] with flight attendants. We landed in GUM without incident.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.