Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 110; Flight Crew Total 930; Flight Crew Type 465
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Human Factors
I had a student meeting me for a lesson [early in the morning]. My student was running late; so I performed the preflight and got the aircraft ready to fly. It was cold out; so once I pulled the aircraft out I hopped into the aircraft to stay warm and let my student know where I was (newer student) and that the aircraft was ready to fly.He showed up shortly after; and we got ready to go and started up and went on with the lesson. I had left the tow bar on the front of the aircraft nose wheel. I did not notice it or remember it at the time. The tow bar didn't make any noise I could hear as it scraped across the ground; but looking back it did seem a little more difficult to steer than usual; but not enough to raise a flag. Not outside of the realm of possibility for a Cessna in my experience.On takeoff I heard a bump that sounded like a door opening. I looked around; didn't see anything unusual and continued with the lesson. We landed; and as soon as I looked in the back of the aircraft for the bar I immediately knew what happened. I called the Tower; they sent Operations to find the tow bar (it was on the runway); and then I went and told my Chief Pilot. I ordered a new tow bar for the aircraft and maintenance took a look to make sure nothing was damaged. No damage occurred.Factors that I believe led to this:- not getting a great nights rest beforehand- I have a new job as a first officer; so flight instruction is now a side job; lack of consistency in instruction- it was cold; so I rushed my preflight and hopped inside the aircraft to wait for student- inconsistent chain of events (normally my student is with me for preflight)- it was dark; sun was just starting to riseAnalyzing the event:-steering was slightly abnormal; but still maneuverable with nose steering-takeoff I heard an unusual bumpHad I correlated these at the time it would have been evident what had occurred.
A Flight Instructor in a Cessna 172 reported that they took-off with the tow bar still attached.