Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft
Immediately after takeoff; while I; (as Pilot Flying); was still hand flying; the aircraft experienced a significant electrical failure. Simultaneously numerous lights went dark; the right EHSI [Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator] and EAI [Electronic Airspeed Indicator] blanked; the lower EICAS failed; and the left FMC failed. The EICAS presented a long list of failures at the top of which was R AC BUS OFF. Mixed in with the failures was also that fact that the landing gear handle was locked down by the ground sensing lock. I continued to fly and took over the radios to advise ATC we wanted to level off and stay in the area. The Pilot Monitoring then got out the QRH and began to run the checklist for an AC bus failure. Whatever caused the failure also tripped the bus isolation relay; so even though the APU was running we remained with limited electrical services. I [advised ATC] since the problem was unresolved; and we had no idea what caused it. Since it was at night; we thought it was the better part of valor to bring the aircraft back before it reoccurred or got worse. As ATC vectored us around; the Pilot Monitoring managed to restore power to the aircraft. Having completed the QRH; we were able to raise the gear finally and stayed at flaps 5 since we had never retracted them. After that; it was simply a matter of completing the relevant checklists; setting up for an approach and returning for landing. That all happened with no further issues and we taxied back to the ramp and turned the aircraft over to Maintenance.Looking back on the actions; kudos to the Pilot Monitoring for staying on task and getting the aircraft powered back up in as timely a manner as a checklist will allow. In retrospect; grading my own actions; I think there are a few things I could have done a bit better. First of all given the timing of the failure; we were taken quite by surprise. Electrical failure of that sort; close to the ground; with a lot going on is not something we practice much; so the reflexes aren't quite as honed. I can't say it was scary; but it did give me a small adrenaline rush and that served to speed up my thinking to the point where I am afraid I might have rushed things and perhaps missed something; though I am at a loss to say what it might have been. I am a big believer in 'slow down; take a breath'; but I am not sure how successful I was. Point number two is that in retrospect; I wish we had paid closer attention to what exactly fixed the problem. That seem silly; but in a relatively complex troubleshooting operation; noting if it was the first; middle; or last option would have made the mechanics jobs a lot easier. All in all; it was a successful outcome; and hopefully; I will take away the reinforcement to help keep things steady and slow down when the brain goes into overdrive. Also; making notes as much as possible to what helped and what didn't when trying to solve a system problem will be a definite addition to my thought process.
B767 Captain reported multiple and significant electrical system failures requiring an emergency landing.