Narrative:

On the short leg climbing with the autopilot engaged; as pilot flying; I had just completed briefing the arrival and ILS xx approach and my captain; pilot monitoring; began the approach descent checklist. Coincidently; the aircraft began leveling at FL290 and the autothrottles began retarding from climb to cruise thrust. Two loud pops were heard with momentary ECAM displays of ENG1 stall and ignition-on. The pilot monitoring announced ECAM and split cockpit duties as the warnings extinguished. He checked engine parameters and found that they indicated normal. The lead flight attendant called via interphone to ask about the source of the noise. The pilot monitoring explained the situation to the lead and followed up with a PA to explain the source of the noise to concerned passengers. Following the PA the lead called again and announced that the left engine was on fire. The pilot monitoring asked the lead to confirm the fire visually as there were no indications in the cockpit and the condition had evidently been reported by passengers. The pilot monitoring completed the approach descent checklist and pushed the ECAM recall button which returned a normal. The lead called back reporting that there was no fire; just flashes of fire associated with the loud pops. The pilot monitoring directed the lead to station a crew member in position to monitor engine 1 visually and provide reliable information. As; pilot flying; I continued with radio duties as the pilot monitoring looked up and sent the appropriate maintenance code. Duties were then returned to normal and shortly after center directed a descent to FL200. I pushed the altitude knob to begin a managed descent and as the autothrottles reduced thrust another loud pop was heard with ENG1 compressor stall ECAM. The pilot monitoring split the duties in the cockpit and proceeded with the ECAM checklist. Per the pilot monitoring's direction; as pilot flying; I matched throttle position to EPR indication; disengaged the autothrottles and retarded no. 1 throttle to flight idle. The ECAM disappeared and the engine returned to normal indications. Satisfied the condition of the no. 1 engine was stable; the pilot monitoring; declared an emergency reporting; souls on board; endurance and asked for crash fire rescue equipment support at our destination. The pilot monitoring made a PA followed by another call from the lead reporting an engine fire. When asked to verify the report the lead indicated that the stationed crewmember confirmed no current visible evidence of fire. The captain; pilot monitoring; briefed the lead to expect a normal landing using a test briefing. As pilot flying; I communicated our desire for an ILS guided visual approach and complied with vectors and descent guidance as the pilot monitoring communicated our situation via ACARS to dispatch. Passing approximately 16;000 feet; the pilot monitoring returned cockpit duties to normal; was told by approach to expect ILS 25R and immediately began reprogramming the mcdu for the new runway. As pilot flying; I continued to fly the airplane and the pilot monitoring briefed the new approach. Approach; landing and rollout were uneventful. Crash fire rescue equipment followed us to the gate to assure no further support was necessary. The captain called the maintenance engine controller to report the incident and indications. Cursory post-flight inspection of visible engine components revealed no damage. After leaving the aircraft; the captain also received a phone call from the fodm to recap the evening's events.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320 left engine experienced two compressor stalls at cruise: first when thrust was reduced to set cruise power and when reduced again to begin the descent. The QRH was completed; an emergency declared and the flight continued to its filed destination with both engines operating.

Narrative: On the short leg climbing with the autopilot engaged; as Pilot Flying; I had just completed briefing the arrival and ILS XX approach and my Captain; Pilot Monitoring; began the Approach Descent Checklist. Coincidently; the aircraft began leveling at FL290 and the autothrottles began retarding from climb to cruise thrust. Two loud pops were heard with momentary ECAM displays of ENG1 stall and ignition-on. The Pilot Monitoring announced ECAM and split cockpit duties as the warnings extinguished. He checked engine parameters and found that they indicated normal. The Lead Flight Attendant called via interphone to ask about the source of the noise. The Pilot Monitoring explained the situation to the Lead and followed up with a PA to explain the source of the noise to concerned passengers. Following the PA the Lead called again and announced that the left engine was on fire. The Pilot Monitoring asked the Lead to confirm the fire visually as there were no indications in the cockpit and the condition had evidently been reported by passengers. The Pilot Monitoring completed the Approach Descent Checklist and pushed the ECAM recall button which returned a NORMAL. The Lead called back reporting that there was no fire; just flashes of fire associated with the loud pops. The Pilot Monitoring directed the Lead to station a crew member in position to monitor engine 1 visually and provide reliable information. As; Pilot Flying; I continued with radio duties as the Pilot Monitoring looked up and sent the appropriate Maintenance code. Duties were then returned to normal and shortly after Center directed a descent to FL200. I pushed the altitude knob to begin a managed descent and as the autothrottles reduced thrust another loud pop was heard with ENG1 Compressor Stall ECAM. The Pilot Monitoring split the duties in the cockpit and proceeded with the ECAM checklist. Per the Pilot Monitoring's direction; as Pilot Flying; I matched throttle position to EPR indication; disengaged the autothrottles and retarded no. 1 throttle to flight idle. The ECAM disappeared and the engine returned to normal indications. Satisfied the condition of the no. 1 engine was stable; the Pilot Monitoring; declared an emergency reporting; souls on board; endurance and asked for CFR support at our destination. The Pilot Monitoring made a PA followed by another call from the Lead reporting an engine fire. When asked to verify the report the Lead indicated that the stationed crewmember confirmed no current visible evidence of fire. The Captain; Pilot Monitoring; briefed the Lead to expect a normal landing using a TEST briefing. As Pilot Flying; I communicated our desire for an ILS guided visual approach and complied with vectors and descent guidance as the Pilot Monitoring communicated our situation via ACARS to Dispatch. Passing approximately 16;000 feet; the Pilot Monitoring returned cockpit duties to normal; was told by Approach to expect ILS 25R and immediately began reprogramming the MCDU for the new runway. As Pilot Flying; I continued to fly the airplane and the Pilot Monitoring briefed the new approach. Approach; landing and rollout were uneventful. CFR followed us to the gate to assure no further support was necessary. The Captain called the Maintenance Engine Controller to report the incident and indications. Cursory post-flight inspection of visible engine components revealed no damage. After leaving the aircraft; the Captain also received a phone call from the FODM to recap the evening's events.

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.