Narrative:

Runway 28R weather - VFR; light winds; 24deg C; altimeter setting 29.78. Preflight and taxi-out were normal. V1 was computed at 141 knots. I was the flying pilot and began the takeoff roll. Captain took control of throttles per SOP. At approx 100kts we crossed over the runways 1R and 1L. As normal; they are very uneven and there is some bumpiness that results. In hindsight I believe that this is when the nosewheel tread separated. It was at this point that I felt a slight unusual vibration in the floorboards and believed something was wrong with a wheel or tire. Shortly; I noticed a black thing bounce off the lower radome and fly off. I saw this out of my peripheral vision. I decided at this point that one or more of the nose gear tires had come apart. We were probably about 110Kts at this point. I began weighing the options of taking off and not being able to raise the gear and then having a subsequent engine failure. I also thought that there was a good chance an engine ingested some of the flying debris. At this point I looked at the captain and said; 'I think we need to abort'. The captain said; 'I think you're right' and initiated the abort in textbook fashion. I called tower immediately and let them know we were aborting takeoff on 28R and the relief pilot shortly got on the PA and told everyone to 'remain seated'. We discussed with ground during rollout that we could clear the runway which we did. I believe we exited at Q taxiway. We had to hold short of 28L however. Then we heard another aircraft report rubber debris all over 28R and tower sent an aircraft around. We had to set the parking brakes between the 2 runways against our wishes. We probably held there for two minutes. I kept advocating with tower that we needed to get across 28L and requested the fire trucks meet the aircraft for the hot brakes and to verify what damage had been done. Tower let us cross and we let ground know we were going to stop on B taxiway while the fire crew checked us out. We shut down all engines for the fire crew and so we wouldn't roll. We did not set the brakes and informed the fire crew of this. The relief pilot checked the flight manual and confirmed that at 120-125kts we were definitely on the edge or in the melt zone for the tires. The fire crew confirmed the left nose gear had lost all it's tread and 2 of the main trucks were smoking. By this point the gear temp sensor synoptic was indicating all sixes or sevens. We called for a tug and company personnel brought one out and hooked it up. The fire department released us after probably 10-15 minutes and we were towed back to the gate. During the tow in I guess a couple main tires deflated due to the fuse plugs melting. The tow-in and shutdown was uneventful. After the parking checklist was run; I went outside to look at the aircraft and saw rather extensive damage. Left nose gear tread gone; left nose gear door bent significantly; major dent (almost a hole) in the lower fuselage about 12-15 feet behind the nose gear; and the no.2 engine ingested some tread and bent fan blades on both the first and second stages of the compressor that I could see. I'm sure the damage was worse deeper. I'm very thankful we did not get airborne because I'm certain with the severely damaged fan blades; the ensuing vibration would have caused the engine to come apart. Heavyweight with the gear down; due to the indications on the runway; would have put us into a potential engine loss on takeoff with the gear dragging. Raising the gear would not have been something we would have wanted to do because we might not have been able to get it back down properly or could have induced even worse problems. But; with an engine failure at heavyweight we would have been in a pretty sticky situation. With this in mind; I'm very confident that we made the correct decision to abort in the high speed regime.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A widebody flight crew rejected their takeoff at high speed when the left nose tire shredded; damaging the the nose gear doors; fuselage and several compressor blades of the number two engine.

Narrative: Runway 28R Weather - VFR; light winds; 24deg C; altimeter setting 29.78. Preflight and taxi-out were normal. V1 was computed at 141 Knots. I was the flying pilot and began the takeoff roll. Captain took control of throttles per SOP. At approx 100kts we crossed over the runways 1R and 1L. As normal; they are very uneven and there is some bumpiness that results. In hindsight I believe that this is when the nosewheel tread separated. It was at this point that I felt a slight unusual vibration in the floorboards and believed something was wrong with a wheel or tire. Shortly; I noticed a black thing bounce off the lower radome and fly off. I saw this out of my peripheral vision. I decided at this point that one or more of the nose gear tires had come apart. We were probably about 110Kts at this point. I began weighing the options of taking off and not being able to raise the gear and then having a subsequent engine failure. I also thought that there was a good chance an engine ingested some of the flying debris. At this point I looked at the Captain and said; 'I think we need to abort'. The Captain said; 'I think you're right' and initiated the abort in textbook fashion. I called tower immediately and let them know we were aborting takeoff on 28R and the relief pilot shortly got on the PA and told everyone to 'remain seated'. We discussed with ground during rollout that we could clear the runway which we did. I believe we exited at Q taxiway. We had to hold short of 28L however. Then we heard another aircraft report rubber debris all over 28R and tower sent an aircraft around. We had to set the parking brakes between the 2 runways against our wishes. We probably held there for two minutes. I kept advocating with tower that we needed to get across 28L and requested the fire trucks meet the aircraft for the hot brakes and to verify what damage had been done. Tower let us cross and we let ground know we were going to stop on B taxiway while the fire crew checked us out. We shut down all engines for the fire crew and so we wouldn't roll. We did not set the brakes and informed the fire crew of this. The relief pilot checked the flight manual and confirmed that at 120-125kts we were definitely on the edge or in the Melt Zone for the tires. The fire crew confirmed the left nose gear had lost all it's tread and 2 of the main trucks were smoking. By this point the gear temp sensor synoptic was indicating all sixes or sevens. We called for a tug and company personnel brought one out and hooked it up. The fire department released us after probably 10-15 minutes and we were towed back to the gate. During the tow in I guess a couple main tires deflated due to the fuse plugs melting. The tow-in and shutdown was uneventful. After the parking checklist was run; I went outside to look at the aircraft and saw rather extensive damage. Left nose gear tread gone; left nose gear door bent significantly; major dent (almost a hole) in the lower fuselage about 12-15 feet behind the nose gear; and the No.2 engine ingested some tread and bent fan blades on both the first and second stages of the compressor that I could see. I'm sure the damage was worse deeper. I'm very thankful we did not get airborne because I'm certain with the severely damaged fan blades; the ensuing vibration would have caused the engine to come apart. Heavyweight with the gear down; due to the indications on the runway; would have put us into a potential engine loss on takeoff with the gear dragging. Raising the gear would not have been something we would have wanted to do because we might not have been able to get it back down properly or could have induced even worse problems. But; with an engine failure at heavyweight we would have been in a pretty sticky situation. With this in mind; I'm very confident that we made the correct decision to abort in the high speed regime.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.