EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew FLC complied w / Automation / Advisory; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
We were cleared for Takeoff and the captain lined up the airplane on runway 29. With the airplane lined up he issued me the flight controls per SOP and I applied 40% power checked of the gauges and applied takeoff power. As the airplane started it roll the airplane was starting to roll hard right and I applied left rudder to correct for center-line. At this point I thought that the nose wheel was not straight when the captain handed me the aircraft. I got back to center-line and had to continue to hold the rudder to keep the airplane straight. However; as the aircraft gained airspeed the rudder gained authority and I eased off the rudder. I still had to have more rudder than usual to keep the airplane on center-line. At this time; I thought it was due now to a 'bent airplane'; or an airplane that is a little out of trim; as that is not unusual in the planes we fly. That thought and while correcting for the heavy crosswind; I figured this was normal as there were no EICAS messages or alarms. The captain Pilot Not Flying (PNF) made all the required call outs and at V1 I realized we were using an abnormal amount of runway and at Vr; as V1 and VR were close to each other; I rotated and took the airplane and situation into the air. At this point I began to use almost full rudder deflection to keep the nose straight; and I pointed it out to the captain that something is wrong and that I was using an abnormal amount of rudder. That is all at about 200 feet. At this point I looked down and the airspeed was stagnant at around 150 knots. I continued to fly the airplane through 400ft lowering the nose just a small amount to gain some airspeed as it was VMC and I could keep clear of all obstacles. AT NO TIME DURING THE TAKEOFF DID I FEEL THAT THE AIRCRAFT WAS NOT CONTROLLABLE. Shortly after that time the MASTER CAUTION rang out. The Auto-throttles disengaged and I applied full power to get as much power as possible and at this time the captain pointed out the real problem of the power on the number 2 engine. I was so focused on keeping the airplane flying in this critical phase of flight that he informed me as to what was going on. We began to keep the climb going to a safe altitude of 5;000 feet. We let ATC know of our issues and began to work out the problem with the engine. At this time; the captain took over the controls of the aircraft and began to reengage the auto-throttles and to engage the auto-pilot. This was done so we could work on checklist and all the proper actions for this type of event and [situation]; as we have never seen such a thing happen due to no warnings of an engine problem but just the auto-throttles caution. That was done level at 5;000 feet. The engine had regained some power and was putting out about 57% power at level flight. We initially thought maybe it fixed itself. However; we asked for a climb to 10;000 feet; and in the climb; the power never went above the Approximately 60% N1. Even though the right throttle was full forward for a climb. Level at 10;000 feet and 250 knots; we informed ATC of our plans to divert. We initially chose a nearby airport but due to runway length; we chose a major international airport for the winds and longer runways. AT NO TIME DID I; OR THE CAPTAIN; FEEL THE CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT DURING TAKEOFF; CRUISE; AND LANDING WAS AT STAKE. We chose the final airport only due to the fact of services and length of runway after discussing this with dispatch. We proceeded direct for the ILS to 33. The landing was a normal landing due to the power that the right engine was putting out. We had the emergency vehicles to standby as a precaution. Again; the landing was normal due to the amount of power; approximately 60%; for landing.
An ERJ-175 First Officer need an unusual amount of rudder during takeoff although the aircraft was controllable. Airborne and flying safely; engine two was seen producing only 57% power so the flight diverted to a nearby airport at 10;000 feet.