What happened
During the takeoff roll, the flight crew heard a loud oscillating sound and subsequently aborted the takeoff. Air traffic control tower personnel reported seeing fire emanating from the aircraft's right engine. After bringing the aircraft to a stop, the crew began executing emergency evacuation and engine fire checklists.
Upon opening the forward right service door, the evacuation slide failed to inflate. The crew then deployed the airstairs to allow all occupants to deplane without injury. All occupants were not injured during the event.
The investigation
Post-event inspections determined that an engine bearing cage had disintegrated. Regarding the failed evacuation equipment, subsequent testing showed that the slide itself functioned properly; however, investigators discovered that its inflation bottle was empty.
Investigation into the maintenance of the safety equipment revealed that the pressure in the bottle had not been verified on the day of the incident. This oversight was attributed to a recent change in the operations manual which created ambiguity regarding responsibility for daily pressure checks. While the manual designates the captain as responsible for ensuring the bottle is pressurized, this specific task was not included as an item on the pre-flight checklist.
Findings
An investigation into the lack of oversight found that a breakdown in communication existed between departments: the flight crew believed maintenance personnel were conducting the daily pressure checks, while maintenance personnel believed the flight crews were responsible for checking the bottles. It was also noted that these inflation bottles have a documented history of losing pressure over time.