<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1320700, December 2015

B737 flight crew experienced a sudden engine failure climbing through 15;000 feet and returned to the departure airport. Post flight inspection revealed possible bird feathers in the engine.

Attributes
ACN	1320700
Time
Date	201512
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 167
Person 2
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 160
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Bird / Animal

Narrative:

On departure we experienced a sudden failure of the number two engine with severe damage. We were climbing through 15;000 feet when; without warning; we experienced a violent shudder and loud noise from the right side of the aircraft. We quickly determined the number two engine had seized by the engine indications; no fire warnings. We ran the QRH for severe damage; [informed] ATC and received vectors back. We then ran the QRH for severe damage while briefing the flight attendants; passengers and notifying operations. We made an uneventful landing and taxied to our gate. Upon postflight inspection; we did notice some white feathers well inside the engine and suspect it may have been a large bird or two that caused the sudden seizure.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew experienced a sudden engine failure climbing through 15;000 feet and returned to the departure airport. Post flight inspection revealed possible bird feathers in the engine.

Narrative: On departure we experienced a sudden failure of the number two engine with severe damage. We were climbing through 15;000 feet when; without warning; we experienced a violent shudder and loud noise from the right side of the aircraft. We quickly determined the number two engine had seized by the engine indications; no fire warnings. We ran the QRH for severe damage; [informed] ATC and received vectors back. We then ran the QRH for severe damage while briefing the flight attendants; passengers and notifying Operations. We made an uneventful landing and taxied to our gate. Upon postflight inspection; we did notice some white feathers well inside the engine and suspect it may have been a large bird or two that caused the sudden seizure.

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.