Narrative:

During climb passing through 9;000 feet precipitation started. The captain engaged ice protection systems. Shortly after; I noticed sparks and a varying intensity orange glow apparently coming from the #2 engine inlet and surrounding cowling area accompanied by the smell of smoke. No fire annunciations or warnings were observed. I informed the captain of my observation and I exchanged control of the aircraft back to the captain. At that time; the captain made the decision to make an immediate air return. I informed approach we needed an immediate return. They cleared us for a visual approach and asked if we were declaring an emergency. I informed them that we were [requesting priority handling] and requested fire services be on standby. On descent; I noticed and stated the orange glow and sparks were no longer present. Emergency checklist was discussed and before landing checklist was completed. During descent; the captain requested me to ask ATC for the runway that what was briefed prior to departure. I informed tower of our request and they promptly cleared us to land. We had a safe landing. We rolled all the way to the end of the runway. We re-verified no sparks or flames as we cleared the runway. We requested fire trucks to follow us all the way to parking at air cargo. We completed the after landing checklist and taxied to the ramp and shut the aircraft down in accordance with the shutdown checklist. We exited the aircraft and stood a safe distance away while the firefighters conducted an inspection to verify there were no hazards. During this time; we contacted dispatch and the chief pilot. When cleared to approach the aircraft; we noted the engine inlet boot had melted. All procedures were followed as outlined in the SOP.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Beech 99 flight crew reported smelling smoke and observing sparks coming from one of the engines during takeoff and returned to land.

Narrative: During climb passing through 9;000 feet precipitation started. The Captain engaged ice protection systems. Shortly after; I noticed sparks and a varying intensity orange glow apparently coming from the #2 engine inlet and surrounding cowling area accompanied by the smell of smoke. No fire annunciations or warnings were observed. I informed the Captain of my observation and I exchanged control of the aircraft back to the Captain. At that time; the Captain made the decision to make an immediate air return. I informed Approach we needed an immediate return. They cleared us for a visual approach and asked if we were declaring an emergency. I informed them that we were [requesting priority handling] and requested fire services be on standby. On descent; I noticed and stated the orange glow and sparks were no longer present. Emergency checklist was discussed and Before Landing checklist was completed. During descent; the Captain requested me to ask ATC for the runway that what was briefed prior to departure. I informed Tower of our request and they promptly cleared us to land. We had a safe landing. We rolled all the way to the end of the runway. We re-verified no sparks or flames as we cleared the runway. We requested fire trucks to follow us all the way to parking at Air Cargo. We completed the After Landing checklist and taxied to the ramp and shut the aircraft down in accordance with the Shutdown checklist. We exited the aircraft and stood a safe distance away while the firefighters conducted an inspection to verify there were no hazards. During this time; we contacted Dispatch and the Chief Pilot. When cleared to approach the aircraft; we noted the engine inlet boot had melted. All procedures were followed as outlined in the SOP.

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.