Narrative:

On take off roll we observed a smoke warning prior to V1. We rejected the takeoff as per procedure. I made the decision to pull off the runway to avoid having the passengers deplaning on a dark runway. We were stopped with both engines off in well under a minute from the smoke warning lights being illuminated. After both engines were off first officer ordered the evacuation out of the 'left main exit'. First officer then left his seat to assist in the evacuation. After all of the passengers deplaned the aircraft I did my walk through and noticed that the left side emergency exit was open. I joined the rest of my crew and passengers outside of the airplane. I then asked my crew to perform a head count and was informed that it was already completed and that all 50 passengers were accounted for. The emergency vehicles arrived and I informed them of the smoke indication. They opened the baggage compartment for smoke and found none. One passenger scraped his finger while exiting from the emergency exit and received a bandage. He denied further medical treatment. The passengers and flight attendant were shuttled back to the terminal; while first officer and I stayed with the airplane while it was towed to the maintenance hangar. We received another airplane and all 50 passengers re-boarded the flight.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dash 8 flight crew rejected takeoff when they observed a smoke warning prior to V1. Aircraft was evacuated on the taxiway.

Narrative: On take off roll we observed a smoke warning prior to V1. We rejected the takeoff as per procedure. I made the decision to pull off the runway to avoid having the passengers deplaning on a dark runway. We were stopped with both engines off in well under a minute from the smoke warning lights being illuminated. After both engines were off First Officer ordered the evacuation out of the 'left main exit'. First Officer then left his seat to assist in the evacuation. After all of the passengers deplaned the aircraft I did my walk through and noticed that the left side emergency exit was open. I joined the rest of my crew and passengers outside of the airplane. I then asked my crew to perform a head count and was informed that it was already completed and that all 50 passengers were accounted for. The emergency vehicles arrived and I informed them of the smoke indication. They opened the baggage compartment for smoke and found none. One passenger scraped his finger while exiting from the emergency exit and received a bandage. He denied further medical treatment. The passengers and flight attendant were shuttled back to the terminal; while First Officer and I stayed with the airplane while it was towed to the maintenance hangar. We received another airplane and all 50 passengers re-boarded the flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.