B757 captain reported returning to departure airport after shutting down the right engine following ...

Narrative:

Normal initial climb out other than the flight attendants being seated due to convective weather. Passing roughly FL235; the first officer (pilot flying) advised that the right engine N3 vibration EICAS (engine indicating and crew alerting system) was in the amber band; at a 3.3 numerical and increasing. Almost immediately it reached 5.0; and I pulled the right throttle partially back in an attempt to save the engine. There was a loud noise; vibration; yaw; a temperature exceedance and the engine lost thrust and went to a grinding; rough idle. Transferred duties and flew straight and level for several miles to clear weather as we were experiencing moderate turbulence in association with the weather. The first officer shut down the right engine via the QRH. We [advised ATC] and requested a return to [departure airport]; as; though [another airport] was closer; it would have required a radical descent and penetration of more threatening thunderstorms. The first officer worked all QRH checklists; calculated abnormal landing data; cross-fed the fuel imbalance and employed our jump seater; who was an invaluable asset; to monitor the fuel balancing. Normal descent and approach other than deviations for weather; and normal landing at 195;000 pounds. Fire crews scoped our engine; wheels and brakes and without too much delay we taxied to the gate and deplaned normally.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 Captain reported returning to departure airport after shutting down the right engine following an inflight failure.

Narrative: Normal initial climb out other than the flight attendants being seated due to convective weather. Passing roughly FL235; the First Officer (pilot flying) advised that the right engine N3 vibration EICAS (Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System) was in the amber band; at a 3.3 numerical and increasing. Almost immediately it reached 5.0; and I pulled the right throttle partially back in an attempt to save the engine. There was a loud noise; vibration; yaw; a temperature exceedance and the engine lost thrust and went to a grinding; rough idle. Transferred duties and flew straight and level for several miles to clear weather as we were experiencing moderate turbulence in association with the weather. The First Officer shut down the right engine via the QRH. We [advised ATC] and requested a return to [departure airport]; as; though [another airport] was closer; it would have required a radical descent and penetration of more threatening thunderstorms. The First Officer worked all QRH checklists; calculated abnormal landing data; cross-fed the fuel imbalance and employed our jump seater; who was an invaluable asset; to monitor the fuel balancing. Normal descent and approach other than deviations for weather; and normal landing at 195;000 pounds. Fire crews scoped our engine; wheels and brakes and without too much delay we taxied to the gate and deplaned normally.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1543575
Time
Date	201805
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 132 Flight Crew Total 25000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

B757 captain reported returning to departure airport after shutting down the right engine following an inflight failure.