.... had a front row seat (actully it was an exit row window seat...) for a
compressor stall on an America West Airbus while departing Detroit enroute
home to Phoenix.

Just after liftoff we heard/felt a moderate "bang" and I glimsed some flame
out the back of the left engine just about the time the gear was in transit.
Captain came on the I/C and said it was due to wake turbulence from the
Northwest Airlines aircraft that departed ahead of us.

Flight continued to Phoenix without any further issues.

Pretty interesting when you momentarilly take "suck" out of the "Suck ...
Squeeze ... Bang ... Blow" chain.

Am I correct in thinking that disrupting the airflow into a turbofan engine
sets up a momentarilly over-rich mixture (hence the visible flame?)

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
AZ Cloudbusters
Chandler, AZ