B737-700
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 139; Flight Crew Type 139
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Declared Emergency
Aircraft
Day two; leg two with very familiar Captain. Good crew rest; briefs; and all pre-departure items normal. Passing 13;000 FT at approximately 290 KTS with autothrottles/autopilot; LNAV; and VNAV; aircraft experienced three bangs/pops with noticeable associated yaws. Captain (PF) disengaged autothrottles/autopilot and established level flight. First Officer (PM) noted more noise from Number 2 which sounded like metal in a blender. Number 2 had pegged out EGT with complete red dial; but other engine indications were similar to Number 1. Captain and First Officer agreed to apply memory items for engine limit. Autothrottles were already disengaged so Captain guarded Number 1 and First Officer reduced/closed Number 2. Engine still had thrust with no aircraft vibrations; but crew agreed indications from the bangs and metal noise were not normal; and decided to shut the engine down. Captain guarded Number 1 and First Officer cut off Number 2. First Officer declared emergency and requested vectors for immediate landing while Captain continued flying. ATC did a nice job giving a base turn and pilot discretion descent to runway and giving time to get souls on board and fuel. First Officer ran clean up checklists while coordinating with ATC while Captain let flight attendants know we had the engine secured and were returning so they should secure the cabin. Crew had completed Engine Limit/Surge/Stall memory items and since engine was shut down ran the Engine Failure/Shutdown Checklist. After completing that; we ran the One Engine Inoperative Landing Checklist. Crew noted the landing would not be overweight and calculated landing speeds to use flap 15 speeds and programmed FMC. ATC changed runway's so First Officer setup FMC and navaids appropriately while Captain got plane down on profile. ATC switched to unified Tower frequency with Fire Chief monitoring; which was helpful to coordinate their inspection of the aircraft after an uneventful southeast landing with autobrake 2. While Captain coordinated with Fire Chief; First Officer briefed passengers and flight attendants about engine problem and safe landing; why the fire trucks were inspecting; and finally that all was well so we were returning to the gate. First Officer called Operations to coordinate gate and CSR for transfers while Captain coordinated with ATC for taxi since cleared by Fire Chief. Passengers seemed fine; Flight Attendant Supervisor; Captain and Assistant Chief Pilot checked with flight attendants to make sure they were okay (which they determined they were) and returned to their Base. Maintenance notified Crew Number 2 engine turbine blades were toast. In hindsight knowing the extent of the damage; we might have followed the Engine Fire/Severe Damage/Separation Checklist; but other than the three pops/bangs we did not have excessive aircraft vibrations and other engine indicators were about the same other than high EGT; which went in limits once the throttle was closed. This would have resulted in pulling the fire handle; and maximizing SE GA thrust as opposed to our path; which we determined we did not need it given our light weight in the One Engine Inoperative Checklist.
During climb out at approximately 13;000 FT and 290 KTS; the aircraft experienced three very loud pops/bangs accompanied by noticeable yaw. The aircraft was in LNAV/VNAV with the autothrottles on. A quick look at the engine instruments showed the Number 2 EGT basically totally highlighted in red. The autopilot and autothrottles were disconnected and after a discussion we decided to shutdown the engine. After reducing the power to idle; the engine appeared to be producing some power but due to the severity of the initial pops/bangs we decided to continue with the shutdown and positioned the start lever to cutoff.We declared an emergency and requested vectors back for landing. We contacted our flight attendants and quickly explained we were returning to the field and instructed them to secure the cabin. The Engine Failure Shutdown Checklist as well as the One Engine Inoperative Landing Checklist were accomplished and followed by an uneventful landing. ATC was very helpful and; although a couple of runway changes occurred; they rendered all assistance possible. At some point on final; we were assigned a 'common' ATC/emergency vehicle frequency; which proved beneficial. Upon exiting the runway; we had direct communication with rescue crews who confirmed that to all appearances the Number 2 engine looked normal showing no visible signs of damage or leakage.Things happened so rapidly it was not until this time we were able to make a PA to our passengers and give a brief explanation of what had happened. Armed with the information from the emergency crews; we decided to taxi to the gate where assistance was provided for both passengers and crew. I'd just like to say that the crew was fantastic. The training we've received paid off. The First Officer and I were on the same page all throughout and not until later in the day while Monday morning second guessing ourselves did we decide that we could have done some things differently (perhaps running the Engine Severe Damage Checklist). But; with the information available at the time we are still confident we acted prudently. The Flight Operations support to us was more than adequate encouraging us to not continue our pairing if not 100% ready.
B737-700 flight crew experiences an engine failure during climb out indicated by banging and high EGT. The engine is shut down and the flight returns to the departure airport.