Cargo aircraft captain reported an engine tailpipe fire during the engine start sequence.

Attributes
ACN	1646726
Time
Date	201905
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Widebody Low Wing 3 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

After pushback; started engines 1 & 3 in normal sequence without incident. When starting eng #2; parameters indicated a delay in engine light-off. There was an abrupt change in RPM when we briefly discussed aborting the start attempt. Crew in aircraft behind us advised ramp tower that our aircraft had a tailpipe fire on number 2. We complied with the QRH; coordinated a [return to the ramp] (straight ahead due to our gw (gross weight) and only 2 engines available for taxi. Made aml (aircraft maintenance logbook) entry; maintenance inspected; did an engine run and signed off discrepancy. Compounding the issue was an MEL for #2 fuel flow indication and weak APU. Subsequent start was normal.weak APU and lack of fuel flow information to crew during start sequence. Recommend maintain APU's to peak performance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cargo aircraft Captain reported an engine tailpipe fire during the engine start sequence.

Narrative: After pushback; started Engines 1 & 3 in normal sequence without incident. When starting Eng #2; parameters indicated a delay in engine light-off. There was an abrupt change in RPM when we briefly discussed aborting the start attempt. Crew in aircraft behind us advised ramp tower that our aircraft had a tailpipe fire on number 2. We complied with the QRH; coordinated a [return to the ramp] (straight ahead due to our GW (Gross Weight) and only 2 engines available for taxi. Made AML (Aircraft Maintenance Logbook) entry; Maintenance inspected; did an engine run and signed off discrepancy. Compounding the issue was an MEL for #2 Fuel Flow indication and weak APU. Subsequent start was normal.Weak APU and lack of fuel flow information to crew during start sequence. Recommend maintain APU's to peak performance.

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.