Narrative:

Flight attendant noticed flashing light in the area of #2 engine fan. Flight attendant advised via interphone. We had an airline jumpseater riding in back; and I asked the flight attendant to have him take a look. The jumpseater and I spoke via interphone; and he told me that it looked something like st elmo's fire coming from the 8 O'clock position as you look into the engine inlet. We had no abnormal engine indications; and we were not flying in cloud or precipitation. He said he thought it might be an igniter sparking; but that sounded unlikely to me. The left engine was exhibiting no such phenomenon. We contacted dispatch with a message for maintenance. We were close to our top-of-descent point and had no abnormal engine indication; so we proceeded with a normal descent and landing. Wrote up discrepancy in maintenance log. On arrival; I advised the operations agent to make sure maintenance personnel came. I performed a postflt walkaround; and it looked to me like there was an area in the composite inlet material where the fan may have rubbed. It also looked like it may have been the site of a previous repair (as the jumpseater said; it was at the 8 O'clock position looking into the inlet). As the jumpseater was leaving; he advised that the 'flashing' only occurred at higher thrust settings. I believe the fan may have been contacting the composite material in the engine inlet.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A FLT ATTENDANT NOTICES FLASHING LIGHT; SIMILAR TO ST ELMO'S FIRE; IN THE INLET AREA OF #2 ENG; THAT ONLY OCCURRED AT HIGHER THRUST SETTINGS. THIS ACFT HAD V2500 ENGINES.

Narrative: FLT ATTENDANT NOTICED FLASHING LIGHT IN THE AREA OF #2 ENG FAN. FLT ATTENDANT ADVISED VIA INTERPHONE. WE HAD AN AIRLINE JUMPSEATER RIDING IN BACK; AND I ASKED THE FLT ATTENDANT TO HAVE HIM TAKE A LOOK. THE JUMPSEATER AND I SPOKE VIA INTERPHONE; AND HE TOLD ME THAT IT LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE ST ELMO'S FIRE COMING FROM THE 8 O'CLOCK POS AS YOU LOOK INTO THE ENG INLET. WE HAD NO ABNORMAL ENG INDICATIONS; AND WE WERE NOT FLYING IN CLOUD OR PRECIP. HE SAID HE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE AN IGNITER SPARKING; BUT THAT SOUNDED UNLIKELY TO ME. THE L ENG WAS EXHIBITING NO SUCH PHENOMENON. WE CONTACTED DISPATCH WITH A MESSAGE FOR MAINT. WE WERE CLOSE TO OUR TOP-OF-DSCNT POINT AND HAD NO ABNORMAL ENG INDICATION; SO WE PROCEEDED WITH A NORMAL DSCNT AND LNDG. WROTE UP DISCREPANCY IN MAINT LOG. ON ARR; I ADVISED THE OPS AGENT TO MAKE SURE MAINT PERSONNEL CAME. I PERFORMED A POSTFLT WALKAROUND; AND IT LOOKED TO ME LIKE THERE WAS AN AREA IN THE COMPOSITE INLET MATERIAL WHERE THE FAN MAY HAVE RUBBED. IT ALSO LOOKED LIKE IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE SITE OF A PREVIOUS REPAIR (AS THE JUMPSEATER SAID; IT WAS AT THE 8 O'CLOCK POS LOOKING INTO THE INLET). AS THE JUMPSEATER WAS LEAVING; HE ADVISED THAT THE 'FLASHING' ONLY OCCURRED AT HIGHER THRUST SETTINGS. I BELIEVE THE FAN MAY HAVE BEEN CONTACTING THE COMPOSITE MATERIAL IN THE ENG INLET.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.