A Republic Airways Embraer ERJ-175 with six people and four crew members on board was affected by a trim runaway just after taking off from Atlanta. After being in a stalling situation, the pilots managed to regain control of their aircraft and land back in their departing airport.
The aircraft registered N117HQ was operating flight AA-4439 for American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) from Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to New York La Guardia Airport (LGA) on November 6, 2019.
While climbing from Atlanta, the flight crew declared an emergency to ATC, as they were experiencing a trim runaway. They interrupted their climb at 14,000 feet and were cleared to land back at the airport. However, they reported being in a stalling situation, unable to get their pitch down.
The crew had to fight the aircraft for a while before they finally received a system warning. Going through checklists, they managed to regain control of the plane and landed safely on runway 10.
Trim surfaces help maintain an aircraft’s bank and pitch. Trim runaways can then prove particularly dangerous, as they cause unintended climbs, descents or turns.
“We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans, and we are sorry for the trouble this caused Wednesday evening,” American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) told AeroTime, adding that the passengers were rebooked on flights that same evening to New York.
AeroTime has reached out to Republic Airways for comment but did not receive an answer at the time this article was published.