Narrative:

An hs-125 was cleared for takeoff on runway 22 at houston hobby airport; hou. Co-pilot discovered that there was no airspeed reading on the captain's airspeed indicator; just before rotation speed. After takeoff; the airspeed was still showing blank on the captain's airspeed indicator; and the captain was flying off the standby airspeed indicator; backed up by co-pilot's supervision of his airspeed indicator. As a result of the missing airspeed indicator on the captain's side; several functions of the airplanes instrumentation did not work; and at that point the captain chose to transfer the instruments electronically from the co-pilot's side; over to the captain's side. The captain decide to return back to hou; and co-pilot ask houston departure control for permission to return back to hobby airport. Houston departure control ask if the crew need to declare an emergency; which was answered; negative after discussing this with the captain. From this point on; and down to the point where the airplane touch down on runway 12R at hou airport; there might have been deviations made from the far's with regards to incorrect airspeed; as compared to what was assigned; incorrect heading for short periods of time; minor altitude deviations; and the failure to contact houston approach control on first attempt; even thought they were contacted after being reminded once. The distractions in the cockpit with all the instrument problems escalating; the crew was more concerned about flying the airplane safely down to the runway; as the concern of getting to slow for the set configuration was always present. The aircraft remained VFR at all times. The hs-125 landed with no problems on runway 12R at hou; and taxied in as normal. Houston ground control inquired about the return; which was answered by the co-pilot. There were malfunctions with the aircraft instruments that suggested the safe decision to return back to hou. Maintenance personnel informed the crew that same night that the aircraft had hit several big bugs while rolling down the runway. The left side of the aircraft was covered in bugs; and they were able to locate a relative large bug that had hit the pitot tube; and clogged the captain's pitot tube.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An HS-125 Captain's pilot tube was blocked by a bug during takeoff causing the loss of the captain's airspeed and other associated equipment. The aircraft returned to land but an emergency was not declared.

Narrative: An HS-125 was cleared for takeoff on Runway 22 at Houston Hobby Airport; HOU. Co-pilot discovered that there was no airspeed reading on the Captain's airspeed indicator; just before rotation speed. After takeoff; the airspeed was still showing blank on the Captain's airspeed indicator; and the Captain was flying off the standby airspeed indicator; backed up by Co-pilot's supervision of his airspeed indicator. As a result of the missing airspeed indicator on the Captain's side; several functions of the airplanes instrumentation did not work; and at that point the Captain chose to transfer the instruments electronically from the Co-pilot's side; over to the Captain's side. The Captain decide to return back to HOU; and Co-pilot ask Houston Departure Control for permission to return back to Hobby Airport. Houston Departure Control ask if the crew need to declare an emergency; which was answered; negative after discussing this with the Captain. From this point on; and down to the point where the airplane touch down on Runway 12R at HOU airport; there might have been deviations made from the FAR's with regards to incorrect airspeed; as compared to what was assigned; incorrect heading for short periods of time; minor altitude deviations; and the failure to contact Houston Approach Control on first attempt; even thought they were contacted after being reminded once. The distractions in the cockpit with all the instrument problems escalating; the crew was more concerned about flying the airplane safely down to the runway; as the concern of getting to slow for the set configuration was always present. The aircraft remained VFR at all times. The HS-125 landed with no problems on Runway 12R at HOU; and taxied in as normal. Houston Ground Control inquired about the return; which was answered by the Co-pilot. There were malfunctions with the aircraft instruments that suggested the safe decision to return back to HOU. Maintenance personnel informed the crew that same night that the aircraft had hit several big bugs while rolling down the runway. The left side of the aircraft was covered in bugs; and they were able to locate a relative large bug that had hit the pitot tube; and clogged the Captain's pitot tube.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.