Narrative:

Upon arrival at the aircraft; I began my exterior preflight inspection. As I walked from the captain's side of the aircraft to the first officer's side; I noticed that the pitot covers were installed on the first officer's side. As I continued my exterior inspection; reaching the back of the aircraft; I noticed the mechanic on the first officer's side toward the nose; between the aircraft and the ground power unit. I completed my preflight and walked toward the nose on the captain's side; and was greeted by the mechanic. We shook hands and I noticed the aircraft logbook in his hand. He began to brief me about a deferral that he had just completed and wanted to bring to my attention. I took the aircraft logbook from him and opened it and saw where he had signed the airworthiness release. By his signature on the airworthiness release; I assumed he had removed the pitot covers when I saw him in that area of the aircraft minutes before. After completion of all preflight checks; CRM briefings; and weight and balance checks; I made contact with the mechanic and told him we were ready. He responded affirmatively. I said 'lights out; brake set; cleared to remove chocks and stairs; confirm gear pins; pitot covers removed.' the mechanic responded 'removing chocks and stairs; no gear pins; and pitot covers removed.' he further stated 'clear to start.' after completion of the after start checklists; I cleared the mechanic off the headset and watched him drive away from the aircraft.once cleared for takeoff; we took the active runway and I transferred controls to the first officer. He pushed the thrust levers up and stated 'set takeoff thrust.' as the aircraft accelerated; I called '80 knots.' a few seconds later; the first officer said 'no airspeed.' I glanced to his side and he again stated 'no airspeed.' at that point I stated and initiated a rejected takeoff. We stopped the aircraft on the runway between 80 and 100 knots; which was prior to V1. The first officer noted a ground speed of 105 knots. We cleared the runway; did an after landing flow; and stopped the aircraft on the ATC-directed taxi way. The first officer pulled the QRH checklist to check the brake cooling chart. There were no airspeed or other known flags visible. I decided to contact operations and let them know our situation. Operations agreed with our decision to perform a block turn back. We taxied back to the stand and maintenance discovered that the pitot covers on the first officer's side were still installed. I noted in the logbook the rejected takeoff as well as a block turn back. The mechanic then wrote in the logbook 'found pitot covers still installed on the right pilot's side.' after he cleared the aircraft with a new airworthiness release; and I completed another walk-around inspection; we began the process to depart on our scheduled flight; which launched without incident. This event was the result of the mechanic not completing assigned tasks; yet signing the airworthiness release; indicating the aircraft was ready for flight. Additionally; he verbally confirmed that the pitot covers had been removed; in response to my required audible checks. I am uncertain whether he was in visual sight of the pitot covers when he responded that they had been removed; or if he was simply repeating what is contained in our operational procedures. This type of incident could be prevented in the future by requiring the mechanic to make a log book entry following both installation and removal of the pitot covers and gear pins.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757-200 Captain reported rejecting the takeoff when the First Officer's airspeed read zero because the pitot covers had not been removed.

Narrative: Upon arrival at the aircraft; I began my exterior preflight inspection. As I walked from the captain's side of the aircraft to the first officer's side; I noticed that the pitot covers were installed on the first officer's side. As I continued my exterior inspection; reaching the back of the aircraft; I noticed the mechanic on the first officer's side toward the nose; between the aircraft and the ground power unit. I completed my preflight and walked toward the nose on the captain's side; and was greeted by the mechanic. We shook hands and I noticed the aircraft logbook in his hand. He began to brief me about a deferral that he had just completed and wanted to bring to my attention. I took the aircraft logbook from him and opened it and saw where he had signed the Airworthiness Release. By his signature on the Airworthiness Release; I assumed he had removed the pitot covers when I saw him in that area of the aircraft minutes before. After completion of all preflight checks; CRM briefings; and weight and balance checks; I made contact with the mechanic and told him we were ready. He responded affirmatively. I said 'Lights out; brake set; cleared to remove chocks and stairs; confirm gear pins; pitot covers removed.' The mechanic responded 'Removing chocks and stairs; no gear pins; and pitot covers removed.' He further stated 'Clear to start.' After completion of the after start checklists; I cleared the mechanic off the headset and watched him drive away from the aircraft.Once cleared for takeoff; we took the active runway and I transferred controls to the first officer. He pushed the thrust levers up and stated 'Set takeoff thrust.' As the aircraft accelerated; I called '80 knots.' A few seconds later; the first officer said 'No airspeed.' I glanced to his side and he again stated 'No airspeed.' At that point I stated and initiated a rejected takeoff. We stopped the aircraft on the runway between 80 and 100 knots; which was prior to V1. The first officer noted a ground speed of 105 knots. We cleared the runway; did an after landing flow; and stopped the aircraft on the ATC-directed taxi way. The first officer pulled the QRH checklist to check the brake cooling chart. There were no airspeed or other known flags visible. I decided to contact Operations and let them know our situation. Operations agreed with our decision to perform a block turn back. We taxied back to the stand and maintenance discovered that the pitot covers on the first officer's side were still installed. I noted in the logbook the rejected takeoff as well as a block turn back. The mechanic then wrote in the logbook 'Found pitot covers still installed on the right pilot's side.' After he cleared the aircraft with a new Airworthiness Release; and I completed another walk-around inspection; we began the process to depart on our scheduled flight; which launched without incident. This event was the result of the mechanic not completing assigned tasks; yet signing the Airworthiness Release; indicating the aircraft was ready for flight. Additionally; he verbally confirmed that the pitot covers had been removed; in response to my required audible checks. I am uncertain whether he was in visual sight of the pitot covers when he responded that they had been removed; or if he was simply repeating what is contained in our operational procedures. This type of incident could be prevented in the future by requiring the mechanic to make a log book entry following both installation and removal of the pitot covers and gear pins.

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.