Narrative:

During flight; the left engine was shut down by the flight deck when a problem was detected. I became aware when I saw the propeller stop moving and heard the engine shut down. The plane immediately reversed course back to ZZZ. I retrieved my emergency memory jogger from my flight attendant manual and began to prepare the cabin for landing. The flight deck called me to inform me that the left engine had been shut down and to prepare for an emergency landing in 10 minutes. I was not surprised that it was the left engine; because of ongoing/unresolved mechanical problems with the engine all day. The passengers were calm and compliant. The captain made an announcement explaining the situation. Upon landing; a tire was blown. The flight was met by police and fire department. I walked through the cabin. Passengers seated next to the left wing reported seeing smoke come out of the cowl of the engine as well as large amounts of fluid; which ran out of the engine and over the wing seconds before the engine stopped. Passengers were deplaned onto the runway and into a bus; with police and company escorts. Before the first flight of the day; the first officer noticed a puddle of oil inside the cowling of the left engine; as well as oil leaking on the ground from 4 places on the engine. He asked me to inform the captain; who observed the problem and asked us to inform station personnel of delayed boarding and a potential maintenance issue. I observed the oil leaks on the ground as well; and was uncomfortable with the safety of the aircraft; because it was clearly an indication of a problem; even to me. When outstation maintenance arrived; they observed the leaks and expressed to the flight crew and myself that they felt that the engine was 'probably' safe for a return flight; but that the leaks were clearly an indication of a problem; and that the engine should be further inspected upon arrival. They wiped away the oil with a galley wipe; and asked the flight crew to run the engine. Afterwards they signed off the aircraft for return to service; but because the issue remained unresolved; the flight crew were still uncomfortable with flying the plane with passengers because of the potential risk of a more serious problem. The captain was clearly under serious pressure to fly the plane with passengers back; despite his concerns. After a couple of hours; we did return and maintenance personnel looked at the engine. Shortly before boarding the captain and myself returned to the aircraft where maintenance was working on the engine at that time. The engine was being flushed with a liquid solution and smoke was coming out of it. The captain asked maintenance personnel if they had resolved the oil leak; and they stated that; 'off the record' they had found a loose seal and had tightened it; and also that they had found a 'gas leak' inside the engine. The captain asked again about the oil leak that we had observed; and we were told jokingly by a mechanic; 'an oil leak is only a problem when it stops leaking oil.' maintenance ran the engine with myself and the captain inside the aircraft. There was a strong odor of detergent and jet fuel. After they were finished; we boarded passengers. I feel that the crew's concerns about the safety of the engine were minimized and disregarded and that this was the primary reason the event occurred. After the incident; we were approached by a lead mechanic who asked how long the engine had been run before being signed off and if the aircraft had left the gate. The captain and myself told him that it was run for only a few minutes and that it had not left the gate. The lead mechanic was clearly disturbed and told us that 'it should have been run at 90%' and that 'heads were gonna roll for this.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight Attendant reports their Saab 340 returned to the departure airport when the left engine was shut down. Felt that less than comprehensive predeparture maintenance action on the engine predicted the event.

Narrative: During flight; the left engine was shut down by the flight deck when a problem was detected. I became aware when I saw the propeller stop moving and heard the engine shut down. The plane immediately reversed course back to ZZZ. I retrieved my emergency memory jogger from my Flight Attendant manual and began to prepare the cabin for landing. The flight deck called me to inform me that the left engine had been shut down and to prepare for an emergency landing in 10 minutes. I was not surprised that it was the left engine; because of ongoing/unresolved mechanical problems with the engine all day. The passengers were calm and compliant. The Captain made an announcement explaining the situation. Upon landing; a tire was blown. The flight was met by police and fire department. I walked through the cabin. Passengers seated next to the left wing reported seeing smoke come out of the cowl of the engine as well as large amounts of fluid; which ran out of the engine and over the wing seconds before the engine stopped. Passengers were deplaned onto the runway and into a bus; with police and company escorts. Before the first flight of the day; the First Officer noticed a puddle of oil inside the cowling of the left engine; as well as oil leaking on the ground from 4 places on the engine. He asked me to inform the Captain; who observed the problem and asked us to inform station personnel of delayed boarding and a potential maintenance issue. I observed the oil leaks on the ground as well; and was uncomfortable with the safety of the aircraft; because it was clearly an indication of a problem; even to me. When Outstation Maintenance arrived; they observed the leaks and expressed to the flight crew and myself that they felt that the engine was 'probably' safe for a return flight; but that the leaks were clearly an indication of a problem; and that the engine should be further inspected upon arrival. They wiped away the oil with a galley wipe; and asked the flight crew to run the engine. Afterwards they signed off the aircraft for return to service; but because the issue remained unresolved; the flight crew were still uncomfortable with flying the plane with passengers because of the potential risk of a more serious problem. The Captain was clearly under serious pressure to fly the plane with passengers back; despite his concerns. After a couple of hours; we did return and Maintenance personnel looked at the engine. Shortly before boarding the Captain and myself returned to the aircraft where Maintenance was working on the engine at that time. The engine was being flushed with a liquid solution and smoke was coming out of it. The Captain asked Maintenance personnel if they had resolved the oil leak; and they stated that; 'off the record' they had found a loose seal and had tightened it; and also that they had found a 'gas leak' inside the engine. The Captain asked again about the oil leak that we had observed; and we were told jokingly by a Mechanic; 'an oil leak is only a problem when it stops leaking oil.' Maintenance ran the engine with myself and the Captain inside the aircraft. There was a strong odor of detergent and jet fuel. After they were finished; we boarded passengers. I feel that the crew's concerns about the safety of the engine were minimized and disregarded and that this was the primary reason the event occurred. After the incident; we were approached by a Lead Mechanic who asked how long the engine had been run before being signed off and if the aircraft had left the gate. The Captain and myself told him that it was run for only a few minutes and that it had not left the gate. The Lead Mechanic was clearly disturbed and told us that 'It should have been run at 90%' and that 'Heads were gonna roll for this.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.