C172 instructor pilot reported that distraction led to departing on a training flight with the tow b...

Narrative:

Prior to departing for an introductory flight training lesson I; as the instructor; walked my student through the pre-flight actions and walk around for the cessna 172 we would be flying. He had previous training at other flight schools so I let him help me with some of the checklist items. Once I had finished the walk around with my student I had him help me pull the pre-flighted airplane out of the hangar. As we were pulling the airplane out; my student reminded me that he was in need of a headset. I set the tow bar down; still attached to the nose wheel; and went to retrieve a headset from inside our flight training building. When I came back out; I handed him the headset and explained how it worked as I approached the airplane from behind. Both the student and I entered the plane from the rear unable to see the still attached tow bar. We started the airplane and taxied to the runway without any indication or warning that the tow bar was still attached. Everything seemed normal as we took off. We spent an hour familiarizing with the airplane before we came back for landing. I was at the controls during the entire approach and landing. The landing was soft and there was no indication of any impact from the tow bar. We taxied off the runway and returned to park; still with no abnormal effects from the tow bar. It was not until we shut the engine down that we were informed that it had been attached for the entire flight. The bar managed to cause no major damage to the aircraft other than a few millimeter nick on the tip of one of the propeller blades.fortunately; no one was injured and no major damage was caused to persons or property but this incident could easily have been avoided. A quick double check and walk around before engine start would have revealed that the bar was still there. It also would have been beneficial to pre-flight the aircraft after it had been towed into position rather than prior. Distraction was a primary cause that should have been dealt with after the tow bar had been removed. There is no reason or excuse that this incident should ever happen again in the future and extra diligence will be taken from now on to ensure the aircraft is ready for flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 Instructor Pilot reported that distraction led to departing on a training flight with the tow bar still in place; resulting in minor damage to the prop.

Narrative: Prior to departing for an introductory flight training lesson I; as the instructor; walked my student through the pre-flight actions and walk around for the Cessna 172 we would be flying. He had previous training at other flight schools so I let him help me with some of the checklist items. Once I had finished the walk around with my student I had him help me pull the pre-flighted airplane out of the hangar. As we were pulling the airplane out; my student reminded me that he was in need of a headset. I set the tow bar down; still attached to the nose wheel; and went to retrieve a headset from inside our flight training building. When I came back out; I handed him the headset and explained how it worked as I approached the airplane from behind. Both the student and I entered the plane from the rear unable to see the still attached tow bar. We started the airplane and taxied to the runway without any indication or warning that the tow bar was still attached. Everything seemed normal as we took off. We spent an hour familiarizing with the airplane before we came back for landing. I was at the controls during the entire approach and landing. The landing was soft and there was no indication of any impact from the tow bar. We taxied off the runway and returned to park; still with no abnormal effects from the tow bar. It was not until we shut the engine down that we were informed that it had been attached for the entire flight. The bar managed to cause no major damage to the aircraft other than a few millimeter nick on the tip of one of the propeller blades.Fortunately; no one was injured and no major damage was caused to persons or property but this incident could easily have been avoided. A quick double check and walk around before engine start would have revealed that the bar was still there. It also would have been beneficial to pre-flight the aircraft after it had been towed into position rather than prior. Distraction was a primary cause that should have been dealt with after the tow bar had been removed. There is no reason or excuse that this incident should ever happen again in the future and extra diligence will be taken from now on to ensure the aircraft is ready for flight.

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	1426255
Time
Date	201702
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Parked
Route In Use	Other local flight
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Instructor Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 173.6 Flight Crew Total 701.2
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

C172 instructor pilot reported that distraction led to departing on a training flight with the tow bar still in place; resulting in minor damage to the prop.