Date: 201305
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.TRACON, US
Flight conditions: IMC
Aircraft: MD-82
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Initial Climb
ATC / advisory: TRACON ZZZ
Aircraft component: Electrical Power
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; Captain
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Distraction; Workload
Second reporter function: Pilot Flying; First Officer
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Diverted; General Declared Emergency
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: On departure from ZZZ we encountered multiple AC power interruptions and smoke alarms in all lavs.  The autopilot and autothrottles kicked off.  The load did not shift from one generator to the other.  I started the APU and during the power interruptions; no generator went off line and the APU generator never picked up the load.  I declared an emergency and asked to return to ZZZ.  As I started the QRH procedure the power interruptions ceased. The First Officer was flying and stated something like; 'I can't see anything' and as I was looking for the problem; I took that to mean he didn't see the cause.  After landing I found out that he meant that he didn't have airspeed and his ND and PFD were blinking on and off.  While looking for the cause; I looked over at his instruments and did not see a problem; so it must have been at time a when they were normal.  During the highly distracting emergency environment; we oversped the slats at 285 knots.  I started the APU and we returned to our departure airport and made a normal landing.  The power interruption returned on roll-out and continued until we arrived at the gate at less frequent intervals.  I made a logbook entry; pulled the Voice Recorder CB per FM PT. 1; and notified Dispatch.


Second narrative: On departure we had multiple AC power interruptions and smoke alarm chimes in the lavs.  Autothrottle and autopilot kicked off and as the first officer I was flying the aircraft.  Had a complete loss of nav display (ND) and pilot display (PFD); along with loss of airspeed indicator.  Multiple times the ND and PFD would blink off in a starburst like manner; go blank; then return.  Captain declared an emergency with ATC.  On leveling the aircraft at 5;000 feet overspeed the slats by 5 knots. (Note: Captain's airspeed did not have a loss of power.  The Captain's ND and PFD also did not lose power.)  After a power interruption; glanced over to the Captain's ND and PFD and saw normal indications.  Told the Captain unable to read my instruments and asked if he would like the control of the aircraft.  The Captain determined that situation was OK for me the pilot flying to continue to fly the aircraft.  The Captain ran the QRH for multiple AC power interruptions.  The load did not shift from one side to another.  While running the QRH; the conditions returned to normal.  We focused upon returning to our departure airport and conducted an ILS.  Turned off the autopilot on the approach to prevent the inadvertent autopilot disconnect on the approach.  As the pilot flying I landed the aircraft.  After landing the power interruptions returned.  Captain pulled the CVR circuit breaker after arriving at the gate.  ARFF followed the aircraft to the gate.  Maintenance logbook entries made.  Captain filed a P2.


Synopsis: With the First Officer flying; an MD-82 crew experienced an AC power interruption during initial climb; with the intermittent loss of the First Officer's Nav Display and PFD; as well as the added distraction of ringing Lav Smoke Alarm chimes.  While concurrently leveling at 5;000 feet; a momentary slat overspeed of 5 KTS occurred. The PNF Captain misunderstood the PF First Officer and assumed his flight instruments had returned to normal; and directed him to continue flying the aircraft while he accomplished the QRH; declared an emergency; and commanded a return to the departure airport.