An md-82 tail comp temperature high and master caution alerted during climb so the QRH was completed...

Narrative:

I was pilot monitoring. Start; taxi; takeoff; and initial climb were all normal. At approximately FL220; master warning came on with tail comp temperature high annunciator. Captain leveled at FL230 and I notified ATC that we were leveling. We accomplished the memory items; several seconds later; the annunciator extinguished. I referenced the QRH and completed the checklist. The decision was made to return to the departure airport. Descent was uneventful and we declared an emergency. We were given a discrete tower frequency and were able to communicate with arff. We requested arff to follow us and informed tower we would be stopping on the runway to let arff inspect the tail area. Landing was normal. Once stopped; arff indicated no excessive heat from the tail area. We taxied to the gate with arff following us. Maintenance inspected the tail section and shortly there after took the aircraft out of service. We changed equipment and departed to our filed destination.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An MD-82 TAIL COMP TEMP HIGH and Master Caution alerted during climb so the QRH was completed where upon the warning ceased but an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: I was pilot monitoring. Start; taxi; takeoff; and initial climb were all normal. At approximately FL220; Master Warning came on with TAIL COMP TEMP HIGH annunciator. Captain leveled at FL230 and I notified ATC that we were leveling. We accomplished the memory items; several seconds later; the annunciator extinguished. I referenced the QRH and completed the checklist. The decision was made to return to the departure airport. Descent was uneventful and we declared an emergency. We were given a discrete Tower frequency and were able to communicate with ARFF. We requested ARFF to follow us and informed Tower we would be stopping on the runway to let ARFF inspect the tail area. Landing was normal. Once stopped; ARFF indicated no excessive heat from the tail area. We taxied to the gate with ARFF following us. Maintenance inspected the tail section and shortly there after took the aircraft out of service. We changed equipment and departed to our filed destination.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1102727
Time
Date	201307
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-82
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine Air Pneumatic Ducting
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 13500
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

An md-82 tail comp temperature high and master caution alerted during climb so the QRH was completed where upon the warning ceased but an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.