A320
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Total 24000
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Environment - Non Weather Related
Captain rejected the takeoff due to differences in airspeed indicators on Captain and First Officer PFD. At '80 kts.' callout (made by First Officer; since Captain was Pilot Flying); Captain PFD indicated 60 kts. Captain cross checked First Officer PFD and saw approaching 90 kts.; while Captain saw 65-70 kts. on his PFD. Captain rejected takeoff; flight returned to gate; and Maintenance was advised.Close inspection of Captain's pitot probe (standing on a ladder and shining a flashlight INTO the tube) revealed an insect/bug embedded in the probe.During periods of aircraft non-use of 6-8 [hours] on the ground during the day; and overnight periods; the pitot probes should be covered to prevent bugs and insects from crawling into the warm probes and causing erroneous speed indications.
Takeoff roll was normal; until (as Pilot Monitoring) I called '80 kts.' Captain replied he had 60 kts. After a quick cross check by both of us; we determined we did have an actual airspeed miscompare of 20-25 kts. Captain aborted takeoff. I called Tower and informed them of abort and they directed us to an appropriate taxiway. Upon exit; I did my after landing flow; noted brake temps; and we discussed the situation. Returned to gate and Captain made the appropriate logbook entry and contacted Maintenance.After gate return; a mechanic showed me he had identified the cause of our problem. With the aid of a step ladder and flashlight; he showed me where a dark bug had become lodged in the upper Captain side pitot tube. The bug was removed successfully and after a couple of diagnostic tests and a reset; we departed for an uneventful takeoff and flight. Mechanic mentioned aircraft had been in ZZZ for around 45 hours. It appeared to have sat that length of time with no sensor covers installed. It would be wise to develop a protocol to protect our sensors when a plane is stored for any kind of long time period.
A320 flight crew reported that erroneous airspeed readout resulted in a rejected takeoff.