Dash 8-200
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft
Preflight and taxi checks were performed with everything operating normally. Departing Runway 5 the auto feather armed normally with no indication of anything abnormal with the airplane. At about 700 feet; just before acceleration height; the number two engine's torque spiked past 150 percent with the associated yaw of an engine failure. At acceleration height the memory action items were accomplished and the checklist was asked for. We asked for delay vectors to finish checklist and prepare for landing. The flight attendant was notified of the engine failure; to expect landing in the next ten minutes; and that we were planning a normal landing with a taxi back into the gate. Once checklist was accomplished; we made a turn onto the downwind. The overweight landing was smooth. ATC asked if we needed any assistance; we declined and requested a taxi back to the gate. After we exited the runway an announcement was made to the passengers explaining the situation; we returned to the gate. Fire and rescue crews followed us to the gate and boarded once the airplane was shut down and the door opened. Dispatch was called and two write ups were made for the unscheduled feather/over torque and the overweight landing. We called scheduling multiple times and made it clear that we didn't want to fly the rest of the day and needed a hotel booked for us. Despite that; scheduling kept us at the airport for over two hours looking for options to get us back to flying. Scheduling said we were legal; flying needs covered; and they have a job to do.
We were leaving and it was a full flight. After takeoff the right (number 2) engine made a noise; the props on that engine slowed down and stopped turning and the tail of the aircraft started to swerve a bit (kind of like it was hard to control by the pilots). Right after that the emergency lights started to flicker. I could automatically tell that we had an engine failure; there were no smoke or anything coming out of the number 2 engine it just stopped. I was ready for the Captain's instructions when the call came; it was just a steady red light (a regular call). That was probably only about 2-3 min after the engine failed. When the Captain called he said that it was going to be a regular landing and deplaning and if something happened he would give the bracing signals. After we hung up I gave the announcement. I explained the situation and that we would be going back in just a few minutes and that everything was going to be normal landing and deplaning. I remained calm and reassured everyone that it was going to be fine. The passenger in 2B was crying; I helped her calm down and made sure that if an emergency did arise that she would be able to help me; she assured me that she would be okay. From my jump seat it seemed like the passengers were calm and just curious about what was going on. We had a soft landing. I reiterated to the passengers to stay seated in their seats. We got to the gate and 2 firemen came on board to assess the situation and asked the pilots some questions. We deplaned and all the passengers got off and took all their belongings with them. We towed the aircraft to the hard stand spot and waited to be released which was about 2 hrs after the event.
Dash-8 First Officer and Flight Attendant reported returning to departure airport following failure of #2 engine.