PC-12
Flight Crew Commercial
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft
On initial climb out through approximately 1;000 feet AGL the blue CAS message autopilot fail and Yaw damp fail came on for about 3 seconds and then went away (autopilot was never turned on). The trim was stuck in the far right position between the last 2 white lines and could not be moved to the left. We continued our climb up to 10;000 while troubleshooting the yaw damp and rudder trim. We concluded it could not be fixed airborne and decided we were going to divert. We then advised the passengers of our diversion. ATC gave us vectors for the ILS where an uneventful landing was made.
Captain flying. Shortly after departure the captain said that something was wrong with the flight controls; then there were 2 brief (blue) CAS messages indicating YD and AP disconnect (the AP was not yet being used). We both noticed that the rudder trim was pegged far right; and could not be moved. The captain was applying full left rudder pressure; however aircraft heading could not be maintained unless left aileron was used in order to slip the aircraft. We asked for a level off at 10;000 and ATC asked why; to which I replied we had a rudder trim issue. Captain asked me to take over the controls while he searched the QRH; but nothing matched our situation (I explained that I had experienced the same failure 3-4 weeks prior). It was obvious that we could not continue; so we decided to divert because it was close; and had an 8;000 ft runway. Captain then headed back to the passenger to explain the situation. Captain set up the approach while I continued flying. Turns were made very slow and deliberately with only 5 degrees of bank. For straight and level flight I found that 20 percent torque relieved some rudder pressure while maintaining altitude with an airspeed of about 165. I rolled onto an 8-10 mile final; then handed the aircraft off to captain for the final approach and landing. He decided on a flaps 15 landing. We expected that the lower airspeed during the approach and landing; along with the extended landing gear would have a stabilizing effect; which it did. A normal flaps 15 landing ensued.
PC-12 flight crew reported the rudder trim failed to the far right position and could not be moved. They successfully diverted.