A321 pilot reported multiple engine stalls then engine failure. Flight crew diverted to nearest airport and landed safely.

2024-03 · NASA ASRS report 2102935

Date: 2024-03 · Aircraft: A321 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical

Synopsis

A321 pilot reported multiple engine stalls then engine failure. Flight crew diverted to nearest airport and landed safely.

Narrative

Operating a flight from ZZZZ to ZZZ. Flight departed from ZZZZ normally; normal climb out and reached cruising altitude of FL 340. Flight coasted out normally and was in ETOPS airspace. At Approximately XA11 heard a bang noise followed by 2 concurrent messages. Engine 2 stall and Engine 2 high vibrations. We followed procedure and reduced thrust on number 2 engine.. messages immediately disappeared and all engine parameters were observed normal again. We called back to get our 2nd officer off break and back up into cockpit. We returned thrust lever back into the climb detent and parameters remained normal. At XA13 a second engine stall and high Vibe occurred. this time we reduced power again and parameters returned to normal however this time we kept the power reduced enough to hold altitude and we quickly discussed a possible return and decided to start our offset to 5 miles anticipating a most likely return. As I SAT called dispatch to patch into Maintenance we once again got 3 more stall indications along with high vibes followed almost instantly by a eng 2 fail. I disconnected immediately with the sat call and we proceeded to coordinated our actions. The First Officer continued to fly the airplane while quickly sending off an ACARs message and I Made a HF call to ATC requesting a 180 degree turn to ZZZZ1 airport and immediate descent to FL280. While waiting for that clearance we descended to FL280 (since we already were offset 5 miles) and proceeded to run the Eng 2 shutdown ECAM . Around that time we received CPDLC clearance to FL280 and direct ZZZ VOR. Once ECAMS were run and we were direct ZZZ VOR We discussed our next steps and Briefed Flight attendants of situation fully and gave them times to landing. We then had a good single engine altitude of FL200 and requested and descended to that as our final altitude to ZZZZ1 airport. I Then SAT called dispatch and brought everyone into the picture of what was happening as the aircraft was completely under control and a full plan had been established. Finally made a PA to the passengers about our situation being a brief and generic as possible so not to cause undesired reactions from passengers and told them we would be making a normal landing in ZZZZ1 airport. We then discussed and setup for a landing on runway XX via the ILS.. transferred controls to Myself (captain) and proceeded for what was a total of 1:40 min from incident to landing in ZZZZ1 airport. We had crash fire rescue alerted and had a normal landing and taxied to the gate. After engine shutdown I walked into the Galley and made another PA to the passengers to see how everyone was doing and after passengers were off debriefed the crew.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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