Air Carrier on departure role from DEN was issued a 'cancel take off clearance' by ATC at about 110 KTS. After the abort ATC indicated that a 'false alarm' on their equipment dictated the action taken.
Synopsis
Air Carrier on departure role from DEN was issued a 'cancel take off clearance' by ATC at about 110 KTS. After the abort ATC indicated that a 'false alarm' on their equipment dictated the action taken.
Narrative
On departure roll on 34L; at about 110 KIAS; DEN Tower canceled our take off clearance after they detected a vehicle on the runway. They detected this through their ground RADAR; and it indicated a vehicle entering the runway at; I believe; Taxiway WC. I aborted the takeoff and cleared the runway joining the Eastbound parallel and held short of D1 Taxiway. We told the passengers to remain seated; and shutdown our engines. Airport operations first showed; then the fire department. The fire department chocked our nose gear; so we could release our brakes. They did their inspection and everything checked out okay. While all this was happening I also communicated with flight Dispatch; informed them of the incident and got Maintenance Control in the loop. They dispatched a Team to inspect my tires; and eventually towed me in. Hottest brake temp was about 710 degrees. My First Officer talked to Tower while I was communicating with others and found out the vehicle incident was a false alarm. I'm sure there were things I could have done better; but overall the incident worked out well with the help I got from all parties involved.
Second reporter narrative
I was the First Officer on a flight from Denver. The weather was VFR but deteriorating due to an incoming gust front and rain. We were cleared to take off from Tower on Runway 34L. At 110 KTS Denver Tower said 'Aircraft X take off clearance canceled.' The Captain initiated an abort per SOP. I told Denver Tower; 'Aircraft X aborting on Runway 34L.' When below 60 KTS and everything seemed under control; I told the crew and passengers on the PA to remain seated as we were beginning to taxi off the runway and we did not want the crew prematurely opening the doors and slides as we came to a stop. The Captain taxied off the runway and came to a stop. As he spoke to the crew and passengers I coordinated initially with Ground and Maintenance for overheating brakes. Max temperature of brakes reached 660/630 left and 680/705 right brakes. We were 148;000 LBS and the outside temperature was 29C. An emergency was never declared as it was deemed unnecessary. Denver Tower was professional and somewhat apologetic because they canceled the take off clearance due to an alarm indicating vehicles on the runway. This was a false alarm and they indicated they could not verify vehicles on the runway because of the gust front and approaching rain reducing their visibility. We told them better safe than sorry; basically they did their job and we did ours.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.