Narrative:

I was the pilot flying. We were cleared for takeoff on runway xx and the tower reported the winds at 190 degrees 19 knots. We weighed roughly 441;100 kilos. As the engines stabilized I pushed toga and the engines accelerated to takeoff thrust and moments later we heard a bang and the airplane began to veer off to the left. I rejected the takeoff at around 40 knots. We notified the tower and he replied that they heard a loud bang from inside their tower cab as well and suspected that it was a compressor stall. We stopped the plane on the runway to assess the engines and brake temps. We asked the tower if they saw any flames or smoke coming from any of the engines and they said no. All engine indications were normal and brakes and tires were good. There were no EICAS messages. We cleared the runway and elected to taxi back to the gate. They cleared us to cross the approach end of runway xx and the first officer looked for any FOD that may have come off of the plane but he saw no signs of FOD. The first officer did ask the tower to inspect the runway for FOD just in case. I taxied in with number 1&2 engines at idle. We arrived at the gate shortly after and maintenance was debriefed of the possible engine compressor stall. We were unsure of which engine it was that compressor stalled. Maintenance mentioned to me later that the number one engine was a suspect due to an engine change in ZZZ and a history of bleed malfunctions on number 1 and 2 engines. I told the mechanics that by the way the plane reacted and veered to the left; I would suspect the #1 engine to be the culprit as well. They agreed that the best thing to do was to return to the gate because the engine is not supposed to do this. I have to commend all of my crew on the professionalism that they showed and working together as a whole crew. I suggest that the training department keeps giving scenarios to reject a takeoff for in the simulator. This event was trained for and I couldn't have asked for a better crew.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 Captain reported a compressor stall on takeoff power application; causing a rejected takeoff and a return to gate for maintenance.

Narrative: I was the Pilot Flying. We were cleared for takeoff on Runway XX and the Tower reported the winds at 190 degrees 19 knots. We weighed roughly 441;100 kilos. As the engines stabilized I pushed TOGA and the engines accelerated to takeoff thrust and moments later we heard a bang and the airplane began to veer off to the left. I rejected the takeoff at around 40 knots. We notified the Tower and he replied that they heard a loud bang from inside their Tower cab as well and suspected that it was a compressor stall. We stopped the plane on the runway to assess the engines and brake temps. We asked the Tower if they saw any flames or smoke coming from any of the engines and they said no. All engine indications were normal and brakes and tires were good. There were no EICAS messages. We cleared the runway and elected to taxi back to the gate. They cleared us to cross the approach end of runway XX and the First Officer looked for any FOD that may have come off of the plane but he saw no signs of FOD. The First Officer did ask the Tower to inspect the runway for FOD just in case. I taxied in with number 1&2 engines at idle. We arrived at the gate shortly after and Maintenance was debriefed of the possible engine compressor stall. We were unsure of which engine it was that compressor stalled. Maintenance mentioned to me later that the number one engine was a suspect due to an engine change in ZZZ and a history of bleed malfunctions on number 1 and 2 engines. I told the mechanics that by the way the plane reacted and veered to the left; I would suspect the #1 engine to be the culprit as well. They agreed that the best thing to do was to return to the gate because the engine is not supposed to do this. I have to commend all of my crew on the professionalism that they showed and working together as a whole crew. I suggest that the training department keeps giving scenarios to reject a takeoff for in the simulator. This event was trained for and I couldn't have asked for a better crew.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.