Widebody; Low Wing; 3 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
After pushback; started Engines 1 & 3 in normal sequence without incident. When starting Eng #2; parameters indicated a delay in engine light-off. There was an abrupt change in RPM when we briefly discussed aborting the start attempt. Crew in aircraft behind us advised ramp tower that our aircraft had a tailpipe fire on number 2. We complied with the QRH; coordinated a [return to the ramp] (straight ahead due to our GW (Gross Weight) and only 2 engines available for taxi. Made AML (Aircraft Maintenance Logbook) entry; Maintenance inspected; did an engine run and signed off discrepancy. Compounding the issue was an MEL for #2 Fuel Flow indication and weak APU. Subsequent start was normal.Weak APU and lack of fuel flow information to crew during start sequence. Recommend maintain APU's to peak performance.
Cargo aircraft Captain reported an engine tailpipe fire during the engine start sequence.