This was another fine example of the stellar airmanship exhibited by the US Airways East pilots.
Blew a tire at or after V1. Chunks of tire go into engine, where it does assorted damage to said engine, resulting in smoke and flame. Aircraft airborne, crew decides to reject the t/o (low altitude turn back) after being airborne and slams the nose wheel back on the runway in an attempt to force it back down.
That's the word coming out right now, lets see how this gets spun.
The east pilots have damaged at least a dozen airplanes since the merger with America West. Their level of professionalism matches their level of integrity.
This kind of conjecture, and the aspersions therein, really don't belong on a public board for all the obvious reasons. You simply don't reject T/O past V1 except in a handful of highly unusual circumstances where the airplane won't fly; to do otherwise renders the concept of V1 meaningless.
Good luck with the merger with AA. IMO, you're all playing right into Doug's hands with this kind of stuff.
MODS: feel free to delete this post if it's beyond the pale.