Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 159
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Diverted; General Declared Emergency
Aircraft
I was on my last day of supervised line training in the left seat while the Check Airman flew in the right. I was PF. While being vectored to final; I called for flaps 5. The trailing edge flaps came out asymmetrically. The left one was indicating 0 and the right one indicating 1. We requested vectors away from final while we worked the problem. We referenced the QRH; Asymmetric Trailing Edge Flaps Checklist. The PM called Dispatch and planned a divert to an area airport with longer runways. While enroute we finished the QRH Checklist; which included lowering the LED [leading edge devices] with the alternate Flap switch. We checked the landing performance with flaps 0 and LED extended. The reference speeds where 168/182 including wind corrections. We declared an emergency and asked for CFR to be standing by since we would be landing at fast speeds. The Check Airman briefed the flight attendants and the passengers. Finally; we finished the QRH Checklist which included the Descent and Before Landing Checklist. The approach and landing went well; including a firm landing so as to not use up too much runway and because of the gusty winds. We stopped on the runway to give the CFR time to confirm the landing gear and tires were OK. The hard part was communicating with them. We were both on Ground frequency and Ground Control was very busy talking to other aircraft. It took us close to 10 minutes to confirm everything was OK. It would have been nice to have a discrete frequency to talk to the Chief or at least a higher priority on Ground frequency. Once we knew everything looked fine; we continued to the gate; contacted Dispatch and Maintenance and wrote up the defect in the logbook.
A B737-300 flight crew diverted to an airport with longer runways when they encountered a flap asymmetry issue requiring landing with no trailing edge flaps extended.