Narrative:

The aircraft had a fluid leak in the left engine behind the flame arrestor. It was an active leak several hours after the aircraft blocked in. Its surface measured approximately 14 X 8' and maintenance said it was oil. An oil accumulation is allowed in this area; so maintenance signed off the aircraft as airworthy and we left.shortly after taxiing out of the ramp area; a flight attendant (flight attendant) called and said the left engine has flames coming out of the back. We parked; [engaged] the brakes; shut down the engine; called arff; and ran the tailpipe fire checklist. I was in constant communication with the flight attendant who had another flight attendant monitoring the state of the left engine. The fire went out and stayed out. It was my judgment that the oil puddle ignited and starting the engine again would not be advisable. Arff arrived soon after that and confirmed the engine was secure. We taxied to the gate with arff following and they checked the engine out again after the gate arrival and shut down. Throughout the event; I made pas to reassure the passengers. I estimate I made pas every 3-5 min. The feedback from the fas later was that the passengers were thankful that I kept them informed and that we went back to the gate.on the jetbridge; I debriefed the fire chief; maintenance chief; ramp tower; and dispatcher verbally and answered all questions to their satisfaction.I don't recommend allowing such a large accumulation of oil in that place in the engine. Given the same circumstances; I think I would refuse the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While taxiing for takeoff; after Maintenance released the B737-800; a tailpipe fire developed apparently from an oil accumulation.

Narrative: The aircraft had a fluid leak in the left engine behind the flame arrestor. It was an active leak several hours after the aircraft blocked in. Its surface measured approximately 14 X 8' and maintenance said it was oil. An oil accumulation is allowed in this area; so maintenance signed off the aircraft as airworthy and we left.Shortly after taxiing out of the ramp area; a Flight Attendant (FA) called and said the left engine has flames coming out of the back. We parked; [engaged] the brakes; shut down the engine; called ARFF; and ran the tailpipe fire checklist. I was in constant communication with the FA who had another FA monitoring the state of the left engine. The fire went out and stayed out. It was my judgment that the oil puddle ignited and starting the engine again would not be advisable. ARFF arrived soon after that and confirmed the engine was secure. We taxied to the gate with ARFF following and they checked the engine out again after the gate arrival and shut down. Throughout the event; I made PAs to reassure the passengers. I estimate I made PAs every 3-5 min. The feedback from the FAs later was that the passengers were thankful that I kept them informed and that we went back to the gate.On the jetbridge; I debriefed the fire chief; maintenance chief; ramp tower; and dispatcher verbally and answered all questions to their satisfaction.I don't recommend allowing such a large accumulation of oil in that place in the engine. Given the same circumstances; I think I would refuse the aircraft.

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.