A B737 flight crew rejected their takeoff approaching V1 believing they had blown tires on the left ...

Attributes
ACN	1226010
Time
Date	201412
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 158 Flight Crew Type 7500
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 90 Flight Crew Type 700
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

Takeoff roll was normal until about 80-90 kts when we felt a jolt and a slight veer to the left. The aircraft began to suddenly and violently shake and got worse as we accelerated. At this point I did not think the aircraft was capable of flight and decided to reject the takeoff. The procedure was initiated at about 110 kts. V1 was about 130 kts. The aircraft came to a stop and I announced to the passengers to 'remain seated'. The first officer contacted the tower and noted the reject speed. We asked tower to send fire trucks to look for damage or fire. We both assumed we had blown one or more tires as we reviewed the rejected takeoff procedure and notes. There were no abnormal engine indications. Once on single frequency with the fire marshall we shut down the engines and he inspected the aircraft. He found no damage and requested that we start the engines and taxi to the gate. Since I had no idea why the aircraft shook so violently we decided to have the aircraft towed to the gate with the engines off. There were no injuries. At the gate we heard from the tower that they saw a fireball and a passenger saw 2 fireballs from under the left wing when the event happened.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 flight crew rejected their takeoff approaching V1 believing they had blown tires on the left side. After stopping fire crews inspected the exterior and found no visible damage. After returning to the gate passengers; ATC and other flight crews reported fireballs and booms had emanated from the left engine.

Narrative: Takeoff roll was normal until about 80-90 kts when we felt a jolt and a slight veer to the left. The aircraft began to suddenly and violently shake and got worse as we accelerated. At this point I did not think the aircraft was capable of flight and decided to reject the takeoff. The procedure was initiated at about 110 kts. V1 was about 130 kts. The aircraft came to a stop and I announced to the passengers to 'remain seated'. The First Officer contacted the tower and noted the reject speed. We asked tower to send fire trucks to look for damage or fire. We both assumed we had blown one or more tires as we reviewed the RTO procedure and notes. There were no abnormal engine indications. Once on single frequency with the fire Marshall we shut down the engines and he inspected the aircraft. He found no damage and requested that we start the engines and taxi to the gate. Since I had no idea why the aircraft shook so violently we decided to have the aircraft towed to the gate with the engines off. There were no injuries. At the gate we heard from the Tower that they saw a fireball and a passenger saw 2 fireballs from under the left wing when the event happened.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.