Event Summary
A Boeing 737-300 aborted its takeoff from Wichita, Kansas after the right engine experienced a power loss and caught fire. The crew subsequently initiated an evacuation, during which the emergency slide upper girt bar failed due to overload.
Investigation Findings
The investigation found no evidence of foreign object damage to the engine. A teardown examination revealed that the engine failure resulted from a disengaged lever arm of a variable stator vane on a stage near the high pressure compressor area. This condition led to high cycle fatigue of a stage 1 blade within the high pressure compressor, ultimately causing the power loss and fire.
Evacuation Incident
During the emergency evacuation, the upper girt bar of one of the emergency slides suffered an overload-type failure. The specific details of this failure and its consequences were not detailed in the source material.