Narrative:

Flight was running late so a majority of passengers were booked on other flights and we departed uneventfully with six passengers aboard. Everything from start up to initial climb proceeded uneventfully. We climbed to 10;000 ft as assigned by departure and leveled off awaiting a handoff to center. The first officer who was the flying pilot reduced power at this point to maintain 250 KTS. After a handoff to center; a climb to FL230 was assigned. It was set; confirmed; and the V/south mode was selected. As the first officer pushed the thrust levers forward to accelerate the engines back to climb power for the climb; there was a loud bang associated with an N2 'vib' indication and an itt spike that I believe peaked at approximately 960 C. As soon as I heard the bang and felt the associated vibration and yawing of the aircraft; I reached up and retarded thrust on both engines until the itt was again in the green on the left engine. As this was happening; the cockpit rapidly filled with a dense grey and black smoke. We quickly donned our oxygen masks; and I took control of the aircraft. I stated that I had the radios and controls and for the first officer to proceed with the smoke removal procedures. I declared an emergency with ATC and stated that we had smoke in the cockpit; a possible engine fire or failure; and were returning directly and to have equipment standing by for an evacuation on the runway. The smoke was so thick at this point that I could barely make out the glareshield and only could see a silhouette of the first officer. Since it was so thick; I elected to deploy passenger O2 so that there would at least be some chance that they could have something to breathe. As the first officer got the packs turned off and the bleeds activated; the smoke cleared just enough that I was able to see the airport out the window. I lowered the landing gear at 250 KTS; flight spoilers full up; and idle on both engines while aimed a point about 1 mile from the runway. The first officer continued the QRH but with the oxygen masks on; the thick smoke; and the panic/confusion from the situation we were having some difficulty communicating where we were on the checklist. As we were in a good position to get on the ground quickly; I concentrated on landing the airplane while the first officer attempted to clear the smoke. Due to the extremely high workload; we had been unable to do anything for the cabin or flight attendant communications wise other than drop masks. I finally was able to get a few words in to the flight attendant and stated we were returning; probably a fire somewhere; and to be prepared to evacuate. The left engine; at idle; read oil pressure of about 47 psi and good oil temperature with everything else indicating in the green with the exception of a vib indication on the N2 gauge. Due to the poor ability to communicate and as were so close to the runway I elected not to worry about shutting the engine down as there was no fire indication and I didn't want to add confusion to the situation. At about 500 ft; I told the first officer to look up and be prepared to evacuate. By now the smoke had cleared some; but not enough to remove our masks. The landing was smooth and I brought the aircraft to a complete stop; set the parking brake; shut down the engines; and called for the evacuation checklist. The flight attendant and passenger evacuated down the aircraft stairs; followed by the first officer; and then myself after I made sure all were off. Everyone was shaken; but no injuries occurred. Smoke could be seen coming out of the door after all were off; and the putrid smell of the burnt oil was apparent near the left engine. The left engine appears to have suffered a catastrophic failure of some kind.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ200 flight crew experience a catastrophic engine failure climbing through 11;500. The Captain assumed control of the aircraft; declared an emergency and turned toward the airport as the cockpit quickly filled with smoke. The First Officer commenced the smoke removal checklist and eventually got the packs off and the aircraft depressurized just before landing. The passengers and crew evacuate after stopping on the runway.

Narrative: Flight was running late so a majority of passengers were booked on other flights and we departed uneventfully with SIX passengers aboard. Everything from start up to initial climb proceeded uneventfully. We climbed to 10;000 FT as assigned by Departure and leveled off awaiting a handoff to Center. The First Officer who was the flying pilot reduced power at this point to maintain 250 KTS. After a handoff to Center; a climb to FL230 was assigned. It was set; confirmed; and the V/S mode was selected. As the First Officer pushed the thrust levers forward to accelerate the engines back to climb power for the climb; there was a loud bang associated with an N2 'VIB' indication and an ITT spike that I believe peaked at approximately 960 C. As soon as I heard the bang and felt the associated vibration and yawing of the aircraft; I reached up and retarded thrust on both engines until the ITT was again in the green on the left engine. As this was happening; the cockpit rapidly filled with a dense grey and black smoke. We quickly donned our oxygen masks; and I took control of the aircraft. I stated that I had the radios and controls and for the First Officer to proceed with the smoke removal procedures. I declared an emergency with ATC and stated that we had smoke in the cockpit; a possible engine fire or failure; and were returning directly and to have equipment standing by for an evacuation on the runway. The smoke was so thick at this point that I could barely make out the glareshield and only could see a silhouette of the First Officer. Since it was so thick; I elected to deploy passenger O2 so that there would at least be some chance that they could have something to breathe. As the First Officer got the packs turned off and the bleeds activated; the smoke cleared just enough that I was able to see the airport out the window. I lowered the landing gear at 250 KTS; flight spoilers full up; and idle on both engines while aimed a point about 1 mile from the runway. The First Officer continued the QRH but with the oxygen masks on; the thick smoke; and the panic/confusion from the situation we were having some difficulty communicating where we were on the checklist. As we were in a good position to get on the ground quickly; I concentrated on landing the airplane while the First Officer attempted to clear the smoke. Due to the extremely high workload; we had been unable to do anything for the cabin or flight attendant communications wise other than drop masks. I finally was able to get a few words in to the flight attendant and stated we were returning; probably a fire somewhere; and to be prepared to evacuate. The left engine; at idle; read oil pressure of about 47 PSI and good oil temperature with everything else indicating in the green with the exception of a VIB indication on the N2 gauge. Due to the poor ability to communicate and as were so close to the runway I elected not to worry about shutting the engine down as there was no fire indication and I didn't want to add confusion to the situation. At about 500 FT; I told the First Officer to look up and be prepared to evacuate. By now the smoke had cleared some; but not enough to remove our masks. The landing was smooth and I brought the aircraft to a complete stop; set the parking brake; shut down the engines; and called for the evacuation checklist. The flight attendant and passenger evacuated down the aircraft stairs; followed by the First Officer; and then myself after I made sure all were off. Everyone was shaken; but no injuries occurred. Smoke could be seen coming out of the door after all were off; and the putrid smell of the burnt oil was apparent near the left engine. The left engine appears to have suffered a catastrophic failure of some kind.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.