Beechjet 400
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Time Pressure; Human-Machine Interface
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
After takeoff we made an immediate return to the airport via left traffic due to unusual noise and erratic airspeed indications. On initial takeoff roll I; as NFP; was watching for airspeed alive. (Keep in mind that all the following thoughts happened within seconds during perhaps a 15 second takeoff roll). It seemed to take a bit longer than usual for acceleration so I cross checked the First Officer's side and his had just come alive above 40 KTS. I rechecked mine and it too was now alive and accelerating; though I thought perhaps slower than normal. I thought about it being 80 degrees causing a slow acceleration; but then we weren't at a high enough altitude for that to make a difference. Just prior to 80 KTS the airspeed stopped accelerating momentarily and I thought aha I've seen this in the Sim it's windshear; but then it was a perfectly clear day with light winds so that didn't make much sense either. I could tell we were at a high speed and eating up runway when I first heard a pattering against the fuselage. That's when it all came together that perhaps the pitot covers were still in place. A high speed abort with unreliable airspeed indications late in a takeoff roll is rarely a good idea. And at this point the First Officer said something to the effect of 'it really wants to takeoff'. Knowing that an abort could now be disastrous and that aerodynamically the aircraft wanted to fly; I elected to continue and called for rotation stating that I thought our pitot covers were still on. Climbout was uneventful and I told Tower we wanted an immediate return to the airport. We made left closed traffic and landed. We parked in the runup area and the First Officer stepped outside the aircraft to inspect and indeed found that the pitot covers were in place. He then removed them and returned to the aircraft. He briefly spoke to the passengers and returned to cockpit saying that everything outside the aircraft now looked normal and the passengers had no issues saying if we were satisfied so were they. We continued with another takeoff which was uneventful; as was the rest of the flight to the destination. When we wrote this event up the following day it became apparent to us that we had made an overweight landing and not reported it to MX Control. Subsequent calculation showed approximately 200 lbs overweight. As soon as we realized our error we contacted the Director of Safety and MX Control. This event probably leads to an aircraft inspection. I talked to our flight planners/trackers prior to our departure explaining our situation after our landing and before the subsequent departure and there was no mention of needing a new flight release or weight and balance. It seemed logical to me at the time that this was the same aircraft; [passengers]; airports; etc so a new release didn't seem necessary. We were still above our bingo fuel so I though all was well. Since found out that a new release was needed. And we obviously should not have departed after the overweight landing. Huge lessons learned. More communications with our flight control before EVERY departure and with MX control after any turn back ensuring proper release even when there is a simple fix to a problem. More and better communication may have prevented this occurrence. My logical thought process obviously doesn't always match up with the logic of the regulations.
On the initial takeoff roll; acceleration appeared normal. Waiting for the V1 and rotate call out; I glanced at the airspeed indicators briefly. The NFP stated that the pitot tube covers were still installed. I confirmed that they were still installed and stated that 'the airplane wanted to fly'; at which time the NFP called 'ok; rotate.' A high speed abort with unreliable airspeed indications was not possible. Climb out was uneventful and an immediate return to the airport was required. We made left closed traffic and landed. We parked in the run-up area and I stepped outside the aircraft to inspect and indeed found that the pitot covers were in place. I removed them and returned to the aircraft. I briefly spoke to the passengers and returned to the cockpit. I told the Captain that everything outside the aircraft now looked normal and the passengers had no issues continuing the flight saying that; if we were satisfied then so were they. We continued with another takeoff to the destination without further incident.First; when approaching an aircraft; do an initial walk around but remove the pitot tube covers prior to unlocking the cabin door. Second; as a help to me; the Captain placed the nose pin into the steering linkage. If a steering pin is installed by either pilot; pitot tube covers directly above the nose wheel should be confirmed removed.
BE400 flight crew describes a takeoff and a return to the departure airport with pitot tube covers installed.