Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Commercial
Troubleshooting; Other / Unknown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Other / Unknown; Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff
Aircraft; Human Factors
Upon applying take off power the First Officer noticed that he was unable to apply right rudder pressure. The Captain noticed that the aircraft was veering to the left and not on center line. The First Officer simply stated 'rudder' indication to the Captain that there was a rudder malfunction. The Captain called for the controls and the abort. After exiting the runway the First Officer noticed a full water bottle under his right rudder pedal. The obstruction was removed. The crew preformed the after landing check list and the immediate action items for RTO and notified the passengers of the problem and that they would be taking off in the next 20 min. Airspeed of RTO was 70 knots or less. Crew waited 15 min before attempting the next departure.
The last leg of a long delayed day. The FO was the flying pilot. As he applied t/o thrust the aircraft started to veer to the left. At this point the centerline was outside the right main landing gear. I asked him what he was doing and he stated 'rudder' indicating to me that there was a problem; one that I did not understand but given our course and the confusion; I aborted the takeoff at 70 knots. After clearing the runway he informed me that a water bottle had slid under his right rudder peddle. We preformed the after landing checklist and the immediate action items / QRH for RTO. At this time he made a PA to the passengers about the abort; the reason and that we would be taking off in 15 min for brake cooling. I contacted ATC telling them that we would like to continue to a holding area for 15 min. During rudder check try and look under the rudders for obstructions. If that doesn't seem likely then find a better place for water bottle storage.
CRJ200 flight crew reports a rejected takeoff due to a jammed right rudder pedal caused by a water bottle blocking rudder pedal movement.