Narrative:

I took off before sunrise in a piper meridian with the tow bar attached. The only indication I had of the problem was a slight thump and the 'gear warn' light on the CAWS panel remained illuminated after I put the gear lever into the up position. I then put the gear lever back into the down position; got 3 green lights; and after contacting tower for a landing clearance; landed safely. After the tower controller indicated that he saw sparks under our airplane; we quickly taxied off the active runway; shutdown and exited the airplane. Upon finding the towbar still attached; I removed it; restarted the airplane; and taxied back to the hangar. There were numerous contributing factors and a cascade of events that led to the towbar being left on the airplane.1. The day before I spent 6 hours polishing; cleaning; updating navigation databases; sumping fuel; lubricating all hydraulic cylinders; topping tire pressures; and basically giving the airplane a very thorough preflight.2. I was; however; unable to fuel the airplane the day before because when I tried this in the past in the winter the temperature differential between the cold fuel in the truck and the heated hangar caused the fuel to expand and left me with a giant mess of overflowed jet fuel on the hangar floor. So I called for fuel and as I pulled the airplane out of the hangar the fuel truck pulled up. I quickly moved the tractor out of the the way and put it back into the hangar and proceeded to shut the hangar door to conserve heat. This was the pivotal point in the cascade.3. The towbar was in the shade of the small overhead light outside of the hangar.4. I opted to put the chocks behind the left main gear tire so we could safely start up and taxi without interference. Normally I chock the front wheel and would have seen the towbar had I done this. 5. The weather forecast at our destination had changed overnight so I had to file 2 new flight plans; receive 2 new weather briefings as well as print out flight plan copies. This added more tasks to an early morning that was getting busier as I tried to maintain my scheduled departure time.6. The OAT was in the 20's with a light breeze that made it seem very cold; especially since it was dark. When my co-pilot arrived with 2 pets they immediately boarded the airplane because of the cold temperature as did my employer; the airplane owner. I put some more pressure on myself then to get the airplane started in order to get some heat into the cabin.7. Before I towed the airplane out of it's hangar I gave it a final cursory walkaround inspection; as well as a final oil level check. Since I had so thoroughly pre-flighted the airplane the previous evening; I believed I had pre-flighted this airplane more thoroughly when in the hangar (where it was light and warm) than I had ever pre-flighted an airplane before.the outcome of this event could have been much worse; and I will now give every airplane that I fly on from now on a very thorough inspection every time the airplane gets moved. I will also put less pressure on myself to leave so early and will also allow my co-pilot as well as my employer who flies in the right seat regularly with me to help me accomplish the multiple tasks that it takes to get an airplane safely into the air; especially on a cold; dark; early morning.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA46 pilot forgets to remove towbar prior to an early morning flight. When nose gear will not retract reporter returns for uneventful landing with towbar causing sparks during rollout.

Narrative: I took off before sunrise in a Piper Meridian with the tow bar attached. The only indication I had of the problem was a slight thump and the 'gear warn' light on the CAWS panel remained illuminated after I put the gear lever into the up position. I then put the gear lever back into the down position; got 3 green lights; and after contacting Tower for a landing clearance; landed safely. After the Tower Controller indicated that he saw sparks under our airplane; we quickly taxied off the active runway; shutdown and exited the airplane. Upon finding the towbar still attached; I removed it; restarted the airplane; and taxied back to the hangar. There were numerous contributing factors and a cascade of events that led to the towbar being left on the airplane.1. The day before I spent 6 hours polishing; cleaning; updating navigation databases; sumping fuel; lubricating all hydraulic cylinders; topping tire pressures; and basically giving the airplane a very thorough preflight.2. I was; however; unable to fuel the airplane the day before because when I tried this in the past in the winter the temperature differential between the cold fuel in the truck and the heated hangar caused the fuel to expand and left me with a giant mess of overflowed jet fuel on the hangar floor. So I called for fuel and as I pulled the airplane out of the hangar the fuel truck pulled up. I quickly moved the tractor out of the the way and put it back into the hangar and proceeded to shut the hangar door to conserve heat. This was the pivotal point in the cascade.3. The towbar was in the shade of the small overhead light outside of the hangar.4. I opted to put the chocks behind the left main gear tire so we could safely start up and taxi without interference. Normally I chock the front wheel and would have seen the towbar had I done this. 5. The weather forecast at our destination had changed overnight so I had to file 2 new flight plans; receive 2 new weather briefings as well as print out flight plan copies. This added more tasks to an early morning that was getting busier as I tried to maintain my scheduled departure time.6. The OAT was in the 20's with a light breeze that made it seem very cold; especially since it was dark. When my co-pilot arrived with 2 pets they immediately boarded the airplane because of the cold temperature as did my employer; the airplane owner. I put some more pressure on myself then to get the airplane started in order to get some heat into the cabin.7. Before I towed the airplane out of it's hangar I gave it a final cursory walkaround inspection; as well as a final oil level check. Since I had so thoroughly pre-flighted the airplane the previous evening; I believed I had pre-flighted this airplane more thoroughly when in the hangar (where it was light and warm) than I had ever pre-flighted an airplane before.The outcome of this event could have been much worse; and I will now give every airplane that I fly on from now on a very thorough inspection every time the airplane gets moved. I will also put less pressure on myself to leave so early and will also allow my co-pilot as well as my employer who flies in the right seat regularly with me to help me accomplish the multiple tasks that it takes to get an airplane safely into the air; especially on a cold; dark; early morning.

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.