Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 66; Flight Crew Total 25000; Flight Crew Type 2500
Distraction
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Person / Animal / Bird
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Environment - Non Weather Related
Taking off on Runway XXR at ZZZ; I was pilot flying. Approaching V1 we noticed a large bird with an estimated wing span of ten feet appear out of nowhere on the right side of center just in front of the aircraft. I was hoping the blue heron would climb out and not hit us for if it did; it would hit either the right cockpit window; the right side of the fuselage and the First Officer's sensors; or the right engine. I was concentrating on the runway center line trying not to be distracted when the impact occurred. WHAM somewhere on the right side. I did not know if it hit the engine or the right side of the fuselage; I knew it hit and there was a serious chance of impending damage and possible injuries. I still had my hands on the throttles; we were still on the ground just a few kts. from rotation when I rejected the takeoff. I pulled the throttles to idle as my First Officer announced V1 but I was committed. I went into full reverse; felt the auto-brakes kick in and we rapidly decelerated. Approaching a safe taxi speed I de-selected the auto-brakes; heard my First Officer state 'Remain Seated; Remain Seated!' to the passengers. I taxied off the runway and when I knew we had sufficient clearance from the runway I set the parking brake. My First Officer had the QRC out and we made sure we performed all the pertinent items on the checklist. Then we secured the right engine to minimize any possible damage. We did not know the extent of the damage; if any; to the aircraft. I checked with the flight attendants to ensure the cabin was undamaged and the passengers were safe and secure. I made a quick announcement over the PA to assure the passengers of what happened then went back to my duties. We initially stated to Ground Control no assistance was needed but a very short attempt to taxi revealed we had problems. We quickly noticed the aircraft was listing one or two degrees and we knew the tires were deflating. The brake temperature indicators were all over 900 degrees. We called Ground Control and asked for assistance. Shortly the ZZZ fire department arrived and hosed the tires and main landing gear area with plain water. The fire department informed us the tires were smoking and small flames were on the wheels. They extinguished all and checked for damage which they did not find.We checked with the [company] Operations; informed them of the situation and made other phone calls to ensure proper agencies and corporate entities were informed. We also kept the flight attendants and passengers involved. Later the boarding steps and buses arrived and we de-planed the passengers with their carry-on luggage into the waiting buses.No passengers were injured; no damage was done to the aircraft except the deflated tires.
The event occurred while taking off on Runway XXR at ZZZ on an A319. The aircraft had a final takeoff weight of 139.3 and calculated V1-145 kts.; VR-145 kts. and V2-150 kts. for a Flaps 1 reduced thrust takeoff. I was the Pilot Monitoring during the takeoff. The aircraft was operating normally through the takeoff roll and as we were approaching the 'V1' callout (V1-5) we noticed a very large bird (I estimate a 10-12ft wingspan) appear in front of and slightly to the right of center at cockpit height above the runway. The bird appeared out of nowhere and I was fully expecting it to impact my First Officer side front window as it was not moving to avoid the aircraft. I used a composite crosscheck to ensure the V1 callout at the correct time and also try and gauge the relative movement of the bird to the aircraft. Before I opened my mouth to announce 'V1' (at V1-5 kts.; 140 kts. in this case) the bird impacted the aircraft just below my front window on the nose and I saw a very large black mass move past my lower right peripheral. It's trajectory past the nose and down the right side of the fuselage led me to believe that it was going to take out right side fuselage sensors and most likely be ingested into Engine #2 causing further damage.Based on the strong impact and very loud bang happening just before I got the V1 call announced I saw the Captain had already initiated the reject when I called V1. I then monitored the CDUs and PFD for proper speed brake deployment; full thrust reverser deployment; deceleration and potential damage to Engine #2. The auto brakes engaged and we rapidly decelerated. I called '80 kts.' as we slowed below that speed and then announced 'Remain Seated; Remain Seated' over the PA. I also notified Tower of our reject on Runway XXR and told them to stand by for further coordination after we cleared the runway. The auto brakes were deselected upon reaching a safe taxi speed and I pulled up the rejected takeoff QRC to run once we were clear of the runway. We taxied off the runway and set the parking brake in order to run the QRC and Rejected Takeoff non-normal checklist. We also secured Engine #2 in order to minimize any potential damage.The Captain was coordinating with the cabin crew to check on the state of the cabin and the passengers while I was giving ZZZ Operations an initial notification of the event. We then called for further taxi away from the runway onto a taxiway and to standby for any further assistance requests. After a very short taxi I informed the Captain that I felt that the aircraft listing to the right a few degrees and he agreed. We immediately stopped for suspected tire deflation. We cross checked the brake temperature indicators and they were increasing above 900 degrees with a peak of 980 degrees.We called ZZZ Ground Control to dispatch fire department trucks to assist in helping determine the state of the aircraft. Upon arrival at the aircraft the fire department stated that they observed smoke and some small flames on the wheel assembly. They then proceeded to spray the tires and main landing gear at regular intervals to extinguish the flames and cool the brakes. We regularly communicated with the fire chief over the radio relaying brake temperatures until they went down to 50 degrees across all main brakes. They conducted multiple inspections during the process and did not find any damage to aircraft except the deflated tires.During this period we also coordinated with [Company] Operations; Maintenance via ACARS; Dispatch and other appropriate entities to make sure all were informed. We requested boarding steps and buses for the passengers be readied so that we could deplane them and take them back to the terminal once it was safe to do so. The cabin crew also reported no injuries to anyone on board the aircraft. After all passengers were off the aircraft we ran the parking checklist; absent setting the parking brake for previous events; before turning the aircraft over to Maintenance and deplaned the aircraft ourselves. We inspected the bird strike areas with the fire department and maintenance personnel and found initial strikes on the Engine #2 cowling and inboard leading edge of the right wing.
A319 flight crew reported that a large bird strike just prior to V1 resulted in a rejected takeoff and a minor wheel fire.