Narrative:

For us this was the third leg of the day in this aircraft. Nothing abnormal on the previous legs; a normal day and trip. Released brakes; followed by a normal departure and climb up to about 10;000 ft. (This is when we think the F/a (flight attendant) noticed the said problem.) we received a call from the F/a as we passed 14;000 ft. We were told that a loud bang (explained as a gunshot) took place in the aft galley; followed by the all the galley lights going out. Further help from a deadheading first officer (first officer) informed us that all the circuit breaker's were tripped in the aft galley; there was no visible smoke or electrical smell. The first officer and I talked about the problem; consulted the QRH; and placed the galley power to off position. Contacted dispatch and maintenance control over radio to discussed the situation and possible causes to develop a plan of action. At this time we leveled the aircraft at 22;000 ft. We were about 212 miles from destination. We had no idea of the cause or possible future problems that could occur from a loud gunshot sound and subsequent electrical problems. I asked dispatch about other airports we could divert to and [the departure airport] was the closest. We decided to return and get the aircraft inspected. The remainder of the flight was normal with no adverse inflight or control problems.once at the gate; I placed a call to dispatch and maintenance to get some direction of how we would continue from here as far as inspecting the aircraft. I also talked to the chief pilot on call; explained our situation; and answered his questions as well. I also told him (after talking with first officer) that we need some definitive reason on how this happened and that the loud bang was not something of a larger picture. Contract maintenance arrived; did a visual inspection; and found no obvious reasons for the occurrence. Maintenance control told me their plan going forward was to MEL the aft galley and continue to [another airport] for further inspection. Again; one circuit breaker ok; two head thumper; three or more with associated loud bangs; in our opinion this needed to be looked at a lot closer. We have unknown problems; continuing further with very little to no answers would not be the safest course of action. Although the circuit breaker's did their job; we felt these questions needed to be investigated before we continue with passengers. Talked with dispatch; maintenance; and chief pilot on call; and I (with first officer in agreement) decided the safest action was to ground the aircraft.this problem and action were in line with safety; and the training we are receiving in today's environment helped us to evaluate and follow company number one objective; 'safety.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Flight Crew reported being informed by a Flight Attendant during climb of a loud bang and the loss of all power in the aft galley. The crew elected to return to the departure airport where maintenance could find no specific cause for the power failure outside of the tripped circuit breakers. The crew elected to ground the aircraft.

Narrative: For us this was the third leg of the day in this aircraft. Nothing abnormal on the previous legs; a normal day and trip. Released brakes; followed by a normal departure and climb up to about 10;000 ft. (This is when we think the F/A (Flight Attendant) noticed the said problem.) We received a call from the F/A as we passed 14;000 ft. We were told that a loud bang (explained as a gunshot) took place in the aft galley; followed by the all the galley lights going out. Further help from a deadheading F/O (First Officer) informed us that all the CB's were tripped in the aft galley; there was no visible smoke or electrical smell. The F/O and I talked about the problem; consulted the QRH; and placed the galley power to off position. Contacted Dispatch and Maintenance Control over radio to discussed the situation and possible causes to develop a plan of action. At this time we leveled the aircraft at 22;000 ft. We were about 212 miles from destination. We had no idea of the cause or possible future problems that could occur from a loud gunshot sound and subsequent electrical problems. I asked Dispatch about other airports we could divert to and [the departure airport] was the closest. We decided to return and get the aircraft inspected. The remainder of the flight was normal with no adverse inflight or control problems.Once at the gate; I placed a call to Dispatch and Maintenance to get some direction of how we would continue from here as far as inspecting the aircraft. I also talked to the Chief Pilot on Call; explained our situation; and answered his questions as well. I also told him (after talking with F/O) that we need some definitive reason on how this happened and that the loud bang was not something of a larger picture. Contract Maintenance arrived; did a visual inspection; and found no obvious reasons for the occurrence. Maintenance Control told me their plan going forward was to MEL the aft galley and continue to [another airport] for further inspection. Again; one CB ok; two head thumper; three or more with associated loud bangs; in our opinion this needed to be looked at a lot closer. We have unknown problems; continuing further with very little to no answers would not be the safest course of action. Although the CB's did their job; we felt these questions needed to be investigated before we continue with Passengers. Talked with Dispatch; Maintenance; and Chief Pilot on Call; and I (with F/O in agreement) decided the safest action was to ground the aircraft.This problem and action were in line with safety; and the training we are receiving in today's environment helped us to evaluate and follow Company number one objective; 'Safety.'

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.