B767-300 and 300 ER
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 160; Flight Crew Total 11200; Flight Crew Type 4760
Human-Machine Interface
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
Pushback; engine start and taxi out were normal. At the start of the takeoff roll I set the power to 1.10 EPR to allow EGT to stabilize and just as I was about to push the power to the takeoff setting it felt as if one of the nose tires had gone flat and was 'skipping' or bouncing roughly over 3 or 4 of the lead in or centerline lights. I pulled the power back to idle and the captain took the airplane to taxi clear of the runway as he also thought we had a tire problem. Max estimated speed when I pulled the power back to idle was 10-15 KTS groundspeed. (i.e. below max taxi speed). After coordinating with Tower for the runway exit a flight attendant called from the mid section of the airplane and said they heard a 'pop' like a tire blowing. The Captain stopped the airplane when clear of the runway and we coordinated with Maintenance that it would be best to taxi back to gate since a tow in would cause just as much damage to blown tires (if any); taxi in felt normal. After reaching the gate Maintenance came on board and said all tires; wheels and brakes looked OK. Then the Lead Mechanic got a call from Maintenance Control and he told us the airplane had up linked an engine surge to Maintenance Control. He then pulled up one of the maintenance pages and one of the messages was right engine surge. The mechanics then said that as we taxied to the gate at idle power one of the engines was 'coughing' or 'burping'. While taxiing to the gate ALL engine indication were normal as they were at 1.10 EPR at the beginning of the takeoff. One of the Fleet Coordinators deadheading in the cabin also said he thought we had rolled a tire off the rim. Evidently what we took to be a tire problem had been a series of 3 or 4 rapid compressor stalls on the right engine at a very low power setting (1.10 EPR). We in the cockpit had no indication of the compressor stalls orally or on engine instruments while taxiing in to the gate. Airplane had just come in from Europe and after our event was taken out of service.
First Officer was pilot flying. Takeoff thrust came up to 1.10 EPR on takeoff roll it felt like the nose wheel was bouncing on centerline lights. I took control of the airplane after the First Officer pull power back to idle. It felt like a nose wheel problem. We call Maintenance and they said to taxi back to gate and that a tow job would not help at all. Back at gate the mechanics said the tires all look good but they said the right engine was making a popping sound as we taxing into the gate.
B767 flight crew suspects nose tire failure as the power is brought up for takeoff. The takeoff is discontinued and the flight returns to the gate where Maintenance informs that all tires are good. Maintenance Control calls to inform that the aircraft has down linked a series of compressor stalls and the aircraft is taken out of service.