After the B757-200 flight crew shut down the right engine to the failure of the pneumatic starter to...

Narrative:

During engine start the right engine appeared to start normally and stabilize. The maximum start red egt line disappeared and there were no EICAS messages. As we were starting the left engine; no. 2 spooled up slower than it should have and max motoring was approximately 10%. The pneumatic duct pressure was also low. We quickly checked EICAS again and looked for the source of our low pneumatic duct pressure. Then the captain noticed that the right engine start selector was still in ground. He set the selector to automatic and the left engine immediately began to spool up normally. We continued the start on the left engine. Before the left engine stabilized; the mechanic stated that our right engine was on fire. The captain immediately shut down the right engine. From the tone of the mechanics voice; and since we had just dealt with the starter malfunction; I felt there probably was a fire in the accessory portion of the engine compartment. The mechanic then stated that there were still flames coming out of the right engine. I immediately requested that the tower (via ground control) send the fire department to our aircraft in case the fire continued to burn. The captain discharged the fire extinguisher bottle by rotating the engine fire switch. I believe this was the conservative action in this case. The mechanic stated that it appeared the flames were out. The fire department arrived at the aircraft approximately 4-5 minutes from notification and confirmed that the fire was out.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After the B757-200 flight crew shut down the right engine to the failure of the pneumatic starter to disengage; the tug driver advised it appeared to be on fire. When the fire persisted the flight crew discharged the fire extinguisher bottle and called for CFR assistance.

Narrative: During engine start the right engine appeared to start normally and stabilize. The maximum start red EGT line disappeared and there were no EICAS messages. As we were starting the left engine; No. 2 spooled up slower than it should have and max motoring was approximately 10%. The pneumatic duct pressure was also low. We quickly checked EICAS again and looked for the source of our low pneumatic duct pressure. Then the captain noticed that the right engine start selector was still in ground. He set the selector to AUTO and the left engine immediately began to spool up normally. We continued the start on the left engine. Before the left engine stabilized; the mechanic stated that our right engine was on fire. The captain immediately shut down the right engine. From the tone of the mechanics voice; and since we had just dealt with the starter malfunction; I felt there probably was a fire in the accessory portion of the engine compartment. The mechanic then stated that there were still flames coming out of the right engine. I immediately requested that the tower (via Ground Control) send the fire department to our aircraft in case the fire continued to burn. The captain discharged the fire extinguisher bottle by rotating the engine fire switch. I believe this was the conservative action in this case. The mechanic stated that it appeared the flames were out. The fire department arrived at the aircraft approximately 4-5 minutes from notification and confirmed that the fire was out.

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.

Attributes
ACN	952979
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine Starting System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 400
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 50
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

After the B757-200 flight crew shut down the right engine to the failure of the pneumatic starter to disengage; the tug driver advised it appeared to be on fire. When the fire persisted the flight crew discharged the fire extinguisher bottle and called for crash fire rescue equipment assistance.