What happened
On 8 May 2024, a Hawker Beechcraft B200 was being prepared for an air transport flight at Darwin Airport.
Prior to departure, the pilot conducted a pre-flight inspection of the aircraft. A critical step in this process was to remove pitot covers from the pitot tubes[1] on both the front left and right side of the aircraft’s fuselage. These covers protect the tube from contamination and are designed to slide on and off the pitot tubes. They consisted of a cover placed over the pitot tube and an attached red flag, which provided a visual reminder to pilots and ground crew that the covers had been applied and needed to be removed prior to departure.
The pilot completed the preflight inspection, confirmed that both red flags were in their possession, and secured these items along with the propeller covers inside the aircraft. However, the pilot did not detect that the flag for the right-side cover had detached from the cover, nor that the cover was still attached to the pitot tube. This went unnoticed by the pilot and ground personnel, and the aircraft subsequently taxied to the runway with the right-side pitot cover still in place.
The pilot commenced the take-off run, but during rotation[2] they detected a speed discrepancy on their cockpit instrumentation. The pilot continued the climb to 3,000 ft before returning via a visual approach to Darwin Airport.
During the post-flight inspection, the pilot identified that the right-side pitot cover was still in place, covering the pitot tube. This prevented airflow from entering the pitot tube, which subsequently prevented the aircraft’s pitot-static system from operating as designed.
Safety message
This incident highlights the importance of conducting an airspeed check early in the take‑off run. This allows the take-off to be rejected as soon as an airspeed mismatch is detected.
It also illustrates the importance of maintaining a high level of attention and awareness when doing visual inspections of critical aircraft systems such as the pitot tubes and static ports. It is important that the pitot tubes and static ports are fully uncovered and free from obvious obstructions, contamination, or damage prior to departure.
Pilots should also remain cognisant of the risk that pitot covers may not be sufficiently conspicuous when installed on the aircraft, and that tags or streamers may not be robust enough to remain attached to the cover when pilots attempt to remove these items during their regular pre-flight inspections. Targeted inspections of specific aircraft components, along with secondary means of accounting for ground-based protective equipment, can provide an extra layer of assurance that these items have been removed from the aircraft and are safely stowed prior to departure.
About this report
Decisions regarding whether to conduct an investigation, and the scope of an investigation, are based on many factors, including the level of safety benefit likely to be obtained from an investigation. For this occurrence, no investigation has been conducted and the ATSB did not verify the accuracy of the information. A brief description has been written using information supplied in the notification and any follow-up information in order to produce a short summary report, and allow for greater industry awareness of potential safety issues and possible safety actions.