Dash 8-100
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft
Was a normal day; early van to to the airport; accepted plane; boarded; departed a few minutes early and proceeded to de-ice pad to have heavy coat of frost removed. Due to the cold I was in no particular hurry to get in the air; as I recall we were almost done with de-ice before the oil temps were within limits for flight. Just a note; I always like the plane to warm up adequate before flights on these cold mornings (-14c). Taxied out; de-ice equipment check; and took the runway and commenced a takeoff once clearance was received from tower. Somewhere around halfway through gear retraction the right engine began surging very radically; upon closer examination so was the prop. We as a crew determined the most likely cause was a beta lockout failure. We complied with the company memory procedures and when the condition levers were reduced below 1200 the surging ceased. The tower was notified of our intent to return and land; we entered the traffic pattern in a left downwind. The F/A was briefed; the passengers were briefed; ops were notified and we landed as I recall about 9 minutes after liftoff; taxi back to the gate was uneventful where deplaning proceeded without delay. There was a return to field but an emergency was not declared.
A DHC-8 flight crew encountered a surging right engine shortly after landing gear retraction; reduced the RPM until the surging ceased per their Beta lockout procedure and returned to their departure airport.