Emb-145XR flight crew reported abnormal nose wheel steering and a steering inoperative EICAS message...

Narrative:

On taxi out; I noticed that there was a bit of a 'dead spot' in the steering near the neutral position. I even stated that it wasn't like this leaving ord or arriving at ind. This is the second leg with this plane. On takeoff upon handing over controls to the first officer (pilot flying) we received a 'steering inoperative' message as he advanced the thrust levers.it was then that I looked down and noticed that the cord to my cell phone earbuds were touching the base of the tiller (where movement occurs; not totally at the base) and that was possibly inhibiting the steering. We rejected takeoff immediately; taxied clear of the runway; ran the proper procedures. It was then that I moved the tiller (after moving the cord) and verified that this was the issue. We taxied back and flight occurred without incident. I normally leave my phone and earbud cord in my pocket during flight operations. I'm not sure why I had tossed it up to the compartment forward to the tiller. Double check that all things are clear the tiller no matter how small or innocuous it may seem.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145XR flight crew reported abnormal nose wheel steering and a STEERING INOP EICAS message on takeoff roll. A rejected takeoff was performed; and the Captain found the nose wheel tiller was being affected by iPhone ear buds that had been placed there.

Narrative: On taxi out; I noticed that there was a bit of a 'dead spot' in the steering near the neutral position. I even stated that it wasn't like this leaving ORD or arriving at IND. This is the second leg with this plane. On takeoff upon handing over controls to the FO (Pilot Flying) we received a 'Steering INOP' message as he advanced the thrust levers.It was then that I looked down and noticed that the cord to my cell phone earbuds were touching the base of the tiller (where movement occurs; not totally at the base) and that was possibly inhibiting the steering. We rejected takeoff immediately; taxied clear of the runway; ran the proper procedures. It was then that I moved the tiller (after moving the cord) and verified that this was the issue. We taxied back and flight occurred without incident. I normally leave my phone and earbud cord in my pocket during flight operations. I'm not sure why I had tossed it up to the compartment forward to the tiller. Double check that all things are clear the tiller no matter how small or innocuous it may seem.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1242261
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	IND.Airport
State Reference	IN
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Emb-145XR flight crew reported abnormal nose wheel steering and a steering inoperative EICAS message on takeoff roll. A rejected takeoff was performed; and the captain found the nose wheel tiller was being affected by iphone ear buds that had been placed there.