Narrative:

On arrival the runway was wet and slippery. As a result we selected to for departure thrust. The runway was rough as usual but normal takeoff roll otherwise. At rotation we felt a shudder. We thought the nose wheel hit a chuck hole at rotation. The engines were producing normal power as indicated by the EICAS. The first officer continued the climb and around 4500 feet the flight attendant called us to say a passenger saw sparks coming from the #2 engine. I again looked at the engine instruments and both engines were running in the green; although I saw a momentary rise in the hp vibrations but still in the green. I told the flight attendant we are returning; both engines were running normal and we would be on the ground in 5-10 min. I told tower we needed to come back due to sparks coming from the #2 engine. I then texted dispatch to let them know we were returning for sparks reported from #2 engine. I briefed the overweight landing and to touchdown at less than 300 ft per min. The first officer did not feel comfortable with landing so he transferred controls to me. I landed with normal power and fully configured. The touchdown was smooth and controllable. We taxied clear of the runway and emergency crews said the approach and landing looked normal with no visual abnormalities; or hot spots in the area of the engine. We were cleared to the ramp. I shut down #2 and they did an exterior inspection of the aircraft. They reported that the right main was blown and a piece of the tire was in the wing; but no fuel leaks were noted. We were cleared to the gate by the fire captain when one was available. After parking at the gate; the first officer performed the walk around and reported that the #4 tire was blown; a piece of heavy gauge wire was stuck in the bottom of the flap and we had missing stator vanes in the #2 engine. I wrote up the damage and called maintenance; dispatch and operations to advise of the situation. Adverse weather (rain low ceilings and wind); aircraft damage at rotation although unknown at the time to what extent. There was a deviation in speed during configuration between flaps 22 and 45 after I had taken the controls ; in visual conditions; as I was monitoring vibrations an transitioning to visual cues outside; which caused a momentary stick shaker. I advanced the thrust immediately; recovered and continued without further problems. We landed fully configured and a soft touchdown was made. I should have asked the first officer to monitor the vibrations for me while I was flying so I could fully concentrate on the approach and configuration. The first officer and flight attendant were very professional and handled the situation very well.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145 flight crew experiences a strange vibration at rotation but both engines appear to be operating normally. Passing 4;000 feet the Flight Attendant informs that sparks are coming out of the [front] right engine. The crew elects to return to the departure airport with the Captain assuming the fling duties at the First Officer's request. Post flight reveals a blown right main tire and damage to the wing and right engine.

Narrative: On arrival the runway was wet and slippery. As a result we selected TO for departure thrust. The runway was rough as usual but normal takeoff roll otherwise. At rotation we felt a shudder. We thought the nose wheel hit a chuck hole at rotation. The engines were producing normal power as indicated by the EICAS. The FO continued the climb and around 4500 feet the FA called us to say a passenger saw sparks coming from the #2 engine. I again looked at the engine instruments and both engines were running in the green; although I saw a momentary rise in the HP vibrations but still in the green. I told the FA we are returning; both engines were running normal and we would be on the ground in 5-10 min. I told tower we needed to come back due to sparks coming from the #2 engine. I then texted dispatch to let them know we were returning for sparks reported from #2 engine. I briefed the overweight landing and to touchdown at less than 300 ft per min. The FO did not feel comfortable with landing so he transferred controls to me. I landed with normal power and fully configured. The touchdown was smooth and controllable. We taxied clear of the runway and Emergency crews said the approach and landing looked normal with no visual abnormalities; or hot spots in the area of the engine. we were cleared to the ramp. I shut down #2 and they did an exterior inspection of the aircraft. they reported that the right main was blown and a piece of the tire was in the wing; but no fuel leaks were noted. We were cleared to the gate by the Fire captain when one was available. After parking at the gate; the FO performed the walk around and reported that the #4 tire was blown; a piece of heavy gauge wire was stuck in the bottom of the flap and we had missing stator vanes in the #2 engine. I wrote up the damage and called maintenance; Dispatch and operations to advise of the situation. Adverse weather (rain low ceilings and wind); Aircraft damage at rotation although unknown at the time to what extent. There was a deviation in speed during configuration between flaps 22 and 45 after I had taken the controls ; in visual conditions; as I was monitoring vibrations an transitioning to visual cues outside; which caused a momentary stick shaker. I advanced the thrust immediately; recovered and continued without further problems. We landed fully configured and a soft touchdown was made. I should have asked the FO to monitor the vibrations for me while I was flying so I could fully concentrate on the approach and configuration. The FO and FA were very professional and handled the situation very well.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.