B737-700
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 173; Flight Crew Type 9800
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
On takeoff from ZZZ we felt a rough bumping at 100 knots. I was distracted by the cause of the roughness and didn't notice the exact speed we initiated the rejected takeoff at but felt it was at least 100 knots; but not above 120 knots. I determined the aircraft was unsafe to fly; called for the aircraft and rejected the takeoff. The First Officer (FO) alerted Tower as we were slowing to a stop. Once we were stopped; I made a Public Address telling the Passengers to remain seated. I was surprised to find that I didn't have a non-normal checklist for the situation and it felt odd as we had so much time to wait for the Fire Trucks to arrive. During that time I communicated with the Flight Attendants FAs to check on them and asked them to look for fire or smoke. They verified no indication of either and also confirmed that there were no injuries. Crew Fire Rescue pulled up and reported the two left main tires were blown and no fire; though they did hose them down briefly. The FO suggested starting the APU; which we did; and I was able to shut down the engine as the Fire Department was tending to the aircraft. We coordinated with Operations by radio and Dispatch by ACARS; and made Public Addresses to keep the Passengers informed and calm. The Passengers were then deplaned by air stairs and bused to the terminal.
I had done the walk around and hadn't noticed anything unusual about the tires. The brake-wear pins looked fine. Taxi out was normal and even the initial takeoff roll was normal and didn't notice anything. After I heard the Pilot Monitoring call 80 knots; we felt a jolt and then the aircraft started shaking and getting progressively worse. We rejected the takeoff at about 100 knots with the appropriate flows and callouts. As we were slowing (I believe I saw 43 knots); I called Tower to let them know we were rejecting the takeoff. We got the plane stopped. The Captain called the Flight Attendants. The Tower let us know they actually heard the tires blow and that they were sending out the Fire Department and the Airport Operations. They then switched us over to another frequency to coordinate. We started the APU and shutdown the engines and then the Fire Department sprayed something on the aircraft left side. They used the word hot-spot. The people were then deplaned via air stairs and bused to the terminal; and we again confirmed that no one needed medical attention and were uninjured. After thinking about it; I know in training we had been told to wait until below 60 knots to call the Tower; but I'm not sure if that had changed to being at a complete stop or not before calling and could not find guidance in our manuals.
B737-700 flight crew reported a rejected take off due to aircraft shuddering.