An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation has concluded that a pilot who forgot to remove a pitot probe cover from their aircraft before taking off from Launceston Airport in April was likely distracted.
This oversight forced the Cessna 525B Citation CJ3 aircraft, carrying four passengers and two pilots, bound for Bankstown Airport in Sydney, to return shortly after departure.
According to the ATSB, the crew detected a strange noise outside the plane during the initial climb and noticed that the standby airspeed indicator displayed a different reading to the primary and secondary indicators.
Investigations found that the plane had arrived from Sydney earlier that morning and had been parked up for the day, with the crew installing covers over the three pitot probes as part of the securement process.
Pitot tubes are vital components on aircraft, measuring essential data such as airspeed and altitude.
“At 2pm local time, the crew were informed that the passengers would arrive within 30 minutes. The crew arrived at the aircraft at 2:10pm and reported feeling pressured to complete the pre-flight preparations before the arrival of the passengers,” the ATSB said.
“Before the external inspection had been completed, the passengers arrived and both crew went to meet them.”
The ATSB noted that the safety pilot stayed with the passengers while the pilot returned to the aircraft to continue preparations and minimise further delays.
“The external inspection, which included the removal of pitot probe covers, was not completed and the pilot entered the cockpit to finalise preparations for the flight,” they said.
“The safety pilot loaded the passengers and their luggage before securing the aircraft door for departure.”
A safety review by the operator determined that the presence of a safety pilot in a single-pilot operation might have caused a distraction.
“Pilots must ensure that all pre-flight checks and procedures are carried out systematically as detailed in the flight manual,” the ATSB said.
“If interrupted, it is best practice to start again from the beginning to ensure that nothing is missed.”
