B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 135; Flight Crew Total 11500; Flight Crew Type 1849
Workload; Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
Following an uneventful flaps 10 takeoff; on climbout after reaching 3;000 feet [AGL] and beginning to accelerate; the flaps stopped responding to flap lever commands at the flaps 5 position. Following completion of QRH procedures and consultation with Dispatch; maintenance; my First Officer; and the cabin crew; a return to and landing at the takeoff field was made after burning fuel down below maximum landing weight. The Flaps 15 landing and taxi back to the gate were also uneventful. A logbook entry was made.We had a lot of difficulty getting a VHF phone patch with Dispatch and maintenance to work reliably using [company communications] local frequency. After much frustration we resorted to using just the ACARS to communicate with the company. Also; I distinctly recall during simulator training flying this exact same scenario. Back then we were taught that we could get Flaps 15 landing data from dispatch. Last night Dispatch informed me that they do not have; and cannot provide Flaps 15 landing data. We then calculated our own corrections using the appropriate charts in the QRH.
[Report narrative contained no additional information.]
A B737 crew was not able to retract the flaps from the flaps 5 position after takeoff so they circled to burn down to landing weight and landed uneventfully. Communication with the company was difficult.