An air carrier Captain analyzed his performance during the loss of an engine and return to the departure airport.

Narrative

Climbing out of 15000 FT we experienced a major malfunction with engine #1 which made an exploding noise; shook and yawed the aircraft to the left. Almost simultaneously; the autopilot kicked off. I (the Captain) assumed the controls; and assigned the First Officer the duty of running checklists and securing the engine for return to the airport. Because of the distraction of hand-flight during this stressful event; I was not able to focus entirely on the checklist process; communication; and navigation combined. Though the event may not have been handled gracefully; all tasks were completed and we landed without further incident. In retrospect; I made a couple of snap decisions; including the decision not to cross-feed fuel; which I would do differently given the chance. Because of this decision; we ran up against the limitation for fuel imbalance while on downwind for the runway. We did cross-feed from that point until short final to prevent the imbalance from continuing to develop. I believe distraction led to many errors that day; however; the accident chain was broken by sheer force of will to harness my fear and correct problems and mistakes. In the future; I plan to continue to fight complacency and distraction. I also believe that taking time off from the flight environment will bring me the clarity of mind I used to have while flying; and return me to a positive stance of command.