Narrative:

Descending out of approximately FL260; we experienced three loud bangs with significant yaw. Communicating with the flight attendants; we were told that there were reports of flames out of the exhaust of the number one engine. A deadheading captain was asked to take a look to see if he could observe any damage. He could not. We then asked if he would come up to the cockpit to assist the first officer and I. ATC was advised of the situation; an emergency was declared; and we asked for the equipment to be rolled. After completing the engine limit/surge/stall checklist; we decided to do a precautionary shutdown of the number one engine. Though the engine gauges were apparently reading normal; the number one egt was approximately 70 - 80 degrees higher than the number two egt at flight idle. Pushing the number one throttle up even a couple of inches caused the egt to approach almost 600 degrees. Based on this and our interpretation of the checklist; we decided to go ahead and secure the number one engine and to do a single-engine approach and landing. ATC vectored us in for the ILS. We completed all the necessary checklists and configured for a flaps 15 landing. The approach; landing; and rollout were uneventful. Taxiing off the runway the ground crew in the fire trucks examined the number one engine; determining that there wasn't any evidence indicating a fire and the decision was made to continue to the gate and disembark. In conclusion I have to say that this was truly a team effort. Without the first officer and deadheading captain's help the situation at hand would have been considerably more demanding.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported apparent compressor stalls during descent for landing. The crew elects to shut down the engine due to indications of damage and lands safely at destination airport.

Narrative: Descending out of approximately FL260; we experienced three loud bangs with significant yaw. Communicating with the flight attendants; we were told that there were reports of flames out of the exhaust of the number one engine. A deadheading Captain was asked to take a look to see if he could observe any damage. He could not. We then asked if he would come up to the cockpit to assist the First Officer and I. ATC was advised of the situation; an emergency was declared; and we asked for the equipment to be rolled. After completing the Engine Limit/Surge/Stall Checklist; we decided to do a precautionary shutdown of the number one engine. Though the engine gauges were apparently reading normal; the number one EGT was approximately 70 - 80 degrees higher than the number two EGT at flight idle. Pushing the number one throttle up even a couple of inches caused the EGT to approach almost 600 degrees. Based on this and our interpretation of the checklist; we decided to go ahead and secure the number one engine and to do a single-engine approach and landing. ATC vectored us in for the ILS. We completed all the necessary checklists and configured for a flaps 15 landing. The approach; landing; and rollout were uneventful. Taxiing off the runway the Ground Crew in the fire trucks examined the number one engine; determining that there wasn't any evidence indicating a fire and the decision was made to continue to the gate and disembark. In conclusion I have to say that this was truly a team effort. Without the First Officer and deadheading Captain's help the situation at hand would have been considerably more demanding.

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.