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A Q400 had a jammed rudder pedal during base turn to final. Extra force was exerted and the rudder broke free.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 980299 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201111 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.TRACON |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Q400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Rudder Control System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
While turning right base with the auto pilot engaged I attempted to keep the turn coordinated with right rudder. The right rudder pedal felt solid and would not move with normal pressure input. I released pressure from the pedal and disconnected the auto pilot. Finishing the right turn onto the localizer the right rudder pedal was still solid and unresponsive. The landing runway was insight. Once established on the localizer with the wings level I added 'normal' pressure to the right rudder with no response. I continued to smoothly increase pressure to an estimated twice 'normal' pressure and as I was about to release the pressure on the right rudder to ask the captain to check his rudder pedal; the bind or jam; broke free yawing the aircraft to the right (not violently). The captain was checking the left wing for ice contamination when the plane yawed right and thought that the sudden action was turbulence. I informed the captain that the right rudder was momentarily unresponsive; the jolt was the rudder unbinding and that I now had positive and normal rudder control. A normal landing and taxi to the gate was made with no further rudder control issue. Once at the gate we looked behind the rudder pedals to ensure that there wasn't anything blocking the movement of the controls. The area was clear no water bottles; trash; etc.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Q400 had a jammed rudder pedal during base turn to final. Extra force was exerted and the rudder broke free.
Narrative: While turning right base with the auto pilot engaged I attempted to keep the turn coordinated with right rudder. The right rudder pedal felt solid and would not move with normal pressure input. I released pressure from the pedal and disconnected the auto pilot. Finishing the right turn onto the localizer the right rudder pedal was still solid and unresponsive. The landing runway was insight. Once established on the localizer with the wings level I added 'normal' pressure to the right rudder with no response. I continued to smoothly increase pressure to an estimated twice 'normal' pressure and as I was about to release the pressure on the right rudder to ask the Captain to check his rudder pedal; the bind or jam; broke free yawing the aircraft to the right (not violently). The Captain was checking the left wing for ice contamination when the plane yawed right and thought that the sudden action was turbulence. I informed the captain that the right rudder was momentarily unresponsive; the jolt was the rudder unbinding and that I now had positive and normal rudder control. A normal landing and taxi to the gate was made with no further rudder control issue. Once at the gate we looked behind the rudder pedals to ensure that there wasn't anything blocking the movement of the controls. The area was clear no water bottles; trash; etc.
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.