Narrative:

On departure; captain noticed a master warning light and we looked up to see the tail compartment temp high light on. Boldface was completed. Captain flew and called for a level off at 6;000 ft with departure. I pulled the QRH and completed the checklist while captain flew. We requested an immediate return to the field. I completed the descent checklist; before landing checklist and QRH while assisting captain with radio calls; altitudes; coordination; and flight monitoring. The captain briefed the flight attendants and an uneventful landing was accomplished.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD80's tail compartment temp high warning light alerted while climbing after takeoff. An emergency was declared; the QRH checklist completed; and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: On departure; Captain noticed a master warning light and we looked up to see the tail compartment temp high light on. Boldface was completed. Captain flew and called for a level off at 6;000 FT with Departure. I pulled the QRH and completed the checklist while Captain flew. We requested an immediate return to the field. I completed the descent checklist; before landing checklist and QRH while assisting Captain with radio calls; altitudes; coordination; and flight monitoring. The Captain briefed the flight attendants and an uneventful landing was accomplished.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.