Narrative:

While at the gate; the captain had requested a bug wash. We were informed that bug washes were only done when aircraft was ready to push back with ramp raised and aircraft door closed. The captain was told by a supervisor after we returned that this was a new policy due to damage caused by rampers to pitot tubes in the past. Walk around was completed and revealed no abnormalities with the outside of the aircraft - pitot tubes were intact and contaminant free. After passengers were boarded and aircraft door was closed; the rampers came to the aircraft to do the bug wash. I; the first officer; first noticed the rampers had arrived to do the bug wash when I happened to see a gloved hand appear below the sun shade on the outside of the windshield as I was finishing paperwork. I heard no noise or felt no impact when they placed the ladder on the outside of the cockpit window. I removed the sunshade to see how clean it was and continued paperwork. At some point; there was a 'stall fail' message on EICAS. The captain began trouble-shooting the system. We cycled the switches a few times and pressed the test button. Initially nothing changed but a few seconds later the message cleared. We continued the checklists. The rampers finished the bug wash at some point and then we called for push. The rampers never mentioned anything about contact with the pitot tubes; contaminants on the pitot tubes or any other unusual events related to the bug wash. We were pushed out and taxied normally. All other checklists ran normally. No other error messages on taxi out came up. We positioned and held on runway for 2-3 minutes. While holding for take-off clearance; all instrument indications were normal. We were cleared for take-off. Initial roll was normal. As captain called 80 KTS; I looked at my airspeed indicator and noted that it was around 78 knots. Rotated normally but as I pitched for V2+15; the captain and I realized immediately that there was an indication error. Almost at the same time the EFIS comp mon message appeared with flashing IAS on the speed tape. The captain noted immediately that his instrumentation and the standby airspeed indicator were in agreement and the first officer side was indicating 10 KTS slower than the other two. The captain took controls and became pilot flying. We continued out on the RNAV departure. The rest of climbout and navigation on the departure was normal. The EICAS message was intermittent. The QRH advised to switch the air data computer source to the functional side. The airspeed indicator on the first officers side was consistently 10-15 KTS slower than the other two. The airspeed tape did not bleed down to zero. The captain discussed it with the jumpseater and I and it was determined that this was less likely air data computer failure but more likely damage of some kind caused by the ramp crew during the bug wash. On departure; we contacted maintenance and were advised to return to our departure airport. We advised ATC that we needed to return and were assigned a reroute back. We determined we did not need to declare an emergency or request assistance. After calculation; we also noted we were going to be landing about 2000 pounds over limit. We advised maintenance and they told us it was pilot discretion whether we landed at 49;000 pounds. As a crew; we determined the best course of action would be to come in for landing without circling/ holding with the indication errors. The rest of the approach and landing was uneventful. The landing weight was 48;573. On post flight inspection; it was discovered that there was a substance burned circumferentially on the first officer's side pitot tube and what appeared to be the same black substance burned on the bottom and upper part of the side of the captain's pitot tube. There was no communication from the ground crew after the bug wash that there was any contact with the pitot tubes in any manner or that there could potentially be any damage to the outside of the aircraft. Prior to the saluteand final release after push back; there was no indication from the ground crew on their final inspection that there was any potential damage to the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ200 First Officer's airspeed indication was inaccurate; likely due to a pitot tube damaged by ground personnel.

Narrative: While at the gate; the Captain had requested a bug wash. We were informed that bug washes were only done when aircraft was ready to push back with ramp raised and aircraft door closed. The Captain was told by a Supervisor after we returned that this was a new policy due to damage caused by rampers to pitot tubes in the past. Walk around was completed and revealed no abnormalities with the outside of the aircraft - pitot tubes were intact and contaminant free. After passengers were boarded and aircraft door was closed; the rampers came to the aircraft to do the bug wash. I; the First Officer; first noticed the rampers had arrived to do the bug wash when I happened to see a gloved hand appear below the sun shade on the outside of the windshield as I was finishing paperwork. I heard no noise or felt no impact when they placed the ladder on the outside of the cockpit window. I removed the sunshade to see how clean it was and continued paperwork. At some point; there was a 'Stall Fail' message on EICAS. The Captain began trouble-shooting the system. We cycled the switches a few times and pressed the test button. Initially nothing changed but a few seconds later the message cleared. We continued the checklists. The rampers finished the bug wash at some point and then we called for push. The rampers never mentioned anything about contact with the pitot tubes; contaminants on the pitot tubes or any other unusual events related to the bug wash. We were pushed out and taxied normally. All other checklists ran normally. No other error messages on taxi out came up. We positioned and held on runway for 2-3 minutes. While holding for take-off clearance; all instrument indications were normal. We were cleared for take-off. Initial roll was normal. As Captain called 80 KTS; I looked at my airspeed indicator and noted that it was around 78 knots. Rotated normally but as I pitched for V2+15; the Captain and I realized immediately that there was an indication error. Almost at the same time the EFIS COMP MON message appeared with flashing IAS on the speed tape. The Captain noted immediately that his instrumentation and the standby airspeed indicator were in agreement and the First Officer side was indicating 10 KTS slower than the other two. The Captain took controls and became pilot flying. We continued out on the RNAV departure. The rest of climbout and navigation on the departure was normal. The EICAS message was intermittent. The QRH advised to switch the ADC source to the functional side. The airspeed indicator on the First Officers side was consistently 10-15 KTS slower than the other two. The airspeed tape did not bleed down to zero. The Captain discussed it with the Jumpseater and I and it was determined that this was less likely ADC failure but more likely damage of some kind caused by the ramp crew during the bug wash. On departure; we contacted Maintenance and were advised to return to our departure airport. We advised ATC that we needed to return and were assigned a reroute back. We determined we did not need to declare an emergency or request assistance. After calculation; we also noted we were going to be landing about 2000 LBS over limit. We advised Maintenance and they told us it was pilot discretion whether we landed at 49;000 LBS. As a crew; we determined the best course of action would be to come in for landing without circling/ holding with the indication errors. The rest of the approach and landing was uneventful. The landing weight was 48;573. On post flight inspection; it was discovered that there was a substance burned circumferentially on the First Officer's side pitot tube and what appeared to be the same black substance burned on the bottom and upper part of the side of the Captain's pitot tube. There was no communication from the ground crew after the bug wash that there was any contact with the pitot tubes in any manner or that there could potentially be any damage to the outside of the aircraft. Prior to the saluteand final release after push back; there was no indication from the ground crew on their final inspection that there was any potential damage to the aircraft.

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.