Narrative:

During the takeoff roll I noticed the airspeed indicator was indicating zero. I pointed out the situation to the pilot and made the suggestion that the takeoff should be aborted. Upon aborting the takeoff; it is my belief the pilot manipulating the aircraft controls had inadvertently selected the landing gear to the up position. Shortly into the aborted takeoff the aircraft slid to a stop with the nose gear retracted into its wheel well and its respective gear door closed; and the gear handle was found in the up position. The main gear were still supporting the aircraft and the landing gear hydraulic system pump did not have sufficient force to push the gear down and rearward into their retracted position. Contributing factors 1) the pitot tube cover removal was overlooked during the preflight. 2)there was no clear cut definition as to which pilot was PIC. 3)the pilot manipulating the controls was not proficient with aborted takeoff procedures. 4)the observing pilot in the right hand seat overly trusted the current abilities of the pilot manipulating the aircraft controls contributing to the observer's inaction to the situation. Decision - no matter how long we have been flying with a friend or fellow pilot - we need to question the status of their current abilities and treat every flight; whether we are at the controls or not; as if it were our personal responsibility.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot in right seat of C177RG notices no airspeed indication during takeoff and informs left seat pilot who rejects the takeoff. In the process the landing gear lever is raised resulting in nose gear retraction and propeller strike.

Narrative: During the takeoff roll I noticed the airspeed indicator was indicating zero. I pointed out the situation to the pilot and made the suggestion that the takeoff should be aborted. Upon aborting the takeoff; it is my belief the pilot manipulating the aircraft controls had inadvertently selected the landing gear to the UP position. Shortly into the aborted takeoff the aircraft slid to a stop with the nose gear retracted into its wheel well and its respective gear door closed; and the gear handle was found in the UP position. The main gear were still supporting the aircraft and the landing gear hydraulic system pump did not have sufficient force to push the gear down and rearward into their retracted position. Contributing factors 1) The pitot tube cover removal was overlooked during the preflight. 2)There was no clear cut definition as to which pilot was PIC. 3)The Pilot manipulating the controls was not proficient with aborted takeoff procedures. 4)The observing pilot in the right hand seat overly trusted the current abilities of the pilot manipulating the aircraft controls contributing to the observer's inaction to the situation. Decision - no matter how long we have been flying with a friend or fellow pilot - we need to question the status of their current abilities and treat every flight; whether we are at the controls or not; as if it were our personal responsibility.

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.