Narrative:

Flying on the xyz arrival at 6000msl; about 30nm from ZZZ; we put flaps 1 and got an EICAS message saying 'slats fail.' I ran the QRH with good crew resource management (CRM) communication with my first officer who was flying. We requested vectors so we could do all our tasks. When it was clear the slats were not working; we declared emergency with approach and sent message to dispatch and maintenance. We were very light weight with no passengers or flight attendants onboard; landing with only 4000lbs fuel; but we used the longest runway available which was 18C. We did not need the brakes any more than normal so they never got very warm. Also we landed with flaps 2 as told by the QRH when slats are at 0.we had the fire trucks standing by as a precaution and one truck followed us to the gate. Later; I talked to one of the mechanics that fixed the aircraft and he told me there was an open [electrical] short between slats 2 and 3 in the right wing and a wire harness was repaired that would have caused a problem later. I also saw the logbook sign off that confirmed that was correct information.I suggest having maintenance do more preventative inspections; at least in the wing wiring harnesses.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Captain reports when he moved the EMB-190 flap handle to Flaps-1 position they got an EICAS message saying 'Slats Fail.' Ran QRH and declared emergency. Landed with Flaps-2 position; but no Slats. Maintenance troubleshooting found 'open' short between right wing Slats two and three. Another wire harness was also repaired as a precaution.

Narrative: Flying on the XYZ arrival at 6000msl; about 30nm from ZZZ; we put Flaps 1 and got an EICAS message saying 'slats fail.' I ran the QRH with good Crew Resource Management (CRM) communication with my First Officer who was flying. We requested vectors so we could do all our tasks. When it was clear the slats were not working; we declared emergency with Approach and sent message to Dispatch and Maintenance. We were very light weight with no passengers or Flight Attendants onboard; landing with only 4000lbs fuel; but we used the longest runway available which was 18C. We did not need the brakes any more than normal so they never got very warm. Also we landed with Flaps 2 as told by the QRH when slats are at 0.We had the Fire trucks standing by as a precaution and one truck followed us to the gate. Later; I talked to one of the Mechanics that fixed the aircraft and he told me there was an open [electrical] short between slats 2 and 3 in the right wing and a wire harness was repaired that would have caused a problem later. I also saw the Logbook sign off that confirmed that was correct information.I suggest having Maintenance do more Preventative Inspections; at least in the wing wiring harnesses.

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.