Narrative:

Prior to this event all operations had been normal. We were cleared to climb to FL260. Passing through FL235 we heard a very loud bang followed by the aircraft yawing to the right; a large throttle split and the right engine instruments rolling back. My first officer was flying at the time I told him to take the radios; declare an emergency and return to the departure airport. I got the quick reference handbook (QRH) and complied with all items in the compressor stall checklist. During our return I talked with the flight attendants several time[s] to let them know what was going on. I made several PA to the passengers to assure them that everything was fine and to update them on our return. Before I could contact dispatch I got an ACARS message from them asking if we were returning. I informed them of our status. During our return the checklist said to use the engine at a level without compressor stalls. During the descent we left it at idle. On final we advanced the right throttle slowly to check the engine response. N2 would increase but N1 and EPR was not right so I elected to keep the throttle at idle for approach and landing. After clearing the runway we stopped and shut the right engine down. We had the fire department check the aircraft over. They saw no damage and I elected to taxi to the gate. After all of was done we went to the ramp to look at the engine. Our mechanic showed us the aft turbine blades were destroyed. There were metal parts above and below the engine with oil all over the place.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD88's right engine turbine section failed during climb out at FL235. An emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: Prior to this event all operations had been normal. We were cleared to climb to FL260. Passing through FL235 we heard a very loud BANG followed by the aircraft yawing to the right; a large throttle split and the right engine instruments rolling back. My First Officer was flying at the time I told him to take the radios; declare an emergency and return to the departure airport. I got the quick reference handbook (QRH) and complied with all items in the compressor stall checklist. During our return I talked with the flight attendants several time[s] to let them know what was going on. I made several PA to the passengers to assure them that everything was fine and to update them on our return. Before I could contact Dispatch I got an ACARS message from them asking if we were returning. I informed them of our status. During our return the checklist said to use the engine at a level without compressor stalls. During the descent we left it at idle. On final we advanced the right throttle slowly to check the engine response. N2 would increase but N1 and EPR was not right so I elected to keep the throttle at idle for approach and landing. After clearing the runway we stopped and shut the right engine down. We had the Fire Department check the aircraft over. They saw no damage and I elected to taxi to the gate. After all of was done we went to the ramp to look at the engine. Our Mechanic showed us the aft turbine blades were destroyed. There were metal parts above and below the engine with oil all over the place.

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.