Narrative:

We received notification for a reposition as soon as possible. We had difficulty securing a ride from the hotel to the FBO and arrived rather late. It was raining. Preflight was rushed. During startup; taxi; and takeoff roll nothing unusual was seen or heard. At rotation and we both heard a flapping sound outside the window on the left side; but initially thought it was caused by the heavy rain hitting the windshield. I then caught a few glimpses of a red streamer flapping in the wind outside the left side window and realized that that the left side upper static plugs had been left in. We asked ATC to return to the airport and received vectors for an ILS. A few minutes later the red streamer blew off. There were no unusual sounds; signs; or indications that it was ingested by the engine and thrust setting was low at the time. Return to the airport and the approach was uneventful. Back at the FBO a visual inspection revealed no engine damage and no signs of any damage to the aircraft. All pins and covers were out as they were supposed to be. An inventory of the stored pins and covers did reveal that one set of upper static port plugs were missing; probably left in the ports during takeoff and blown off during flight.I retrospect; I realized what might have happened: I had removed and stowed pins and plugs and did so hastily. It is easy to become complacent and just grab at the red streamers that catch your eye. The upper static plugs consist of a set of two nylon pins that are stuck tightly into the holes on the upper static plate on each side of the forward fuselage. Each set of two pins are attached to a red 'remove before flight' streamer approximately one foot long. Those streamers are usually hanging down or flapping in the wind and easy to notice. When it is raining and the 'remove before flight' streamers are soaking wet they can stick rather tight to the fuselage. Such a streamer can be hard to see unless you are specifically looking for it and it obviously doesn't move in the wind; making it even harder to see. It wasn't until after takeoff and around 150 KTS that the streamer broke loose and began flapping in the slipstream. Because of the rain that day; the streamer most likely was stuck flat against the fuselage and easily overlooked. After I removed pins and plugs I had a handful of them which I stowed away; not realizing that I had missed anything. The final quick walk around did not reveal anything amiss either. The best and easiest way this problem could have been avoided would have been to spend a few extra seconds counting all the pins and covers before stowing them. That would have revealed that I had forgotten to remove some. Ironically; I have in fact often used and taught this practice of counting pins; but have not been consistent in doing so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Hawker Captain reports departing without removing the static port plugs and their streamer. The streamer is detected after takeoff and the flight returns uneventfully to the departure airport.

Narrative: We received notification for a reposition as soon as possible. We had difficulty securing a ride from the hotel to the FBO and arrived rather late. It was raining. Preflight was rushed. During startup; taxi; and takeoff roll nothing unusual was seen or heard. At rotation and we both heard a flapping sound outside the window on the left side; but initially thought it was caused by the heavy rain hitting the windshield. I then caught a few glimpses of a red streamer flapping in the wind outside the left side window and realized that that the left side upper static plugs had been left in. We asked ATC to return to the airport and received vectors for an ILS. A few minutes later the red streamer blew off. There were no unusual sounds; signs; or indications that it was ingested by the engine and thrust setting was low at the time. Return to the airport and the approach was uneventful. Back at the FBO a visual inspection revealed no engine damage and no signs of any damage to the aircraft. All pins and covers were out as they were supposed to be. An inventory of the stored pins and covers did reveal that one set of upper static port plugs were missing; probably left in the ports during takeoff and blown off during flight.I retrospect; I realized what might have happened: I had removed and stowed pins and plugs and did so hastily. It is easy to become complacent and just grab at the red streamers that catch your eye. The upper static plugs consist of a set of two nylon pins that are stuck tightly into the holes on the upper static plate on each side of the forward fuselage. Each set of two pins are attached to a red 'remove before flight' streamer approximately one foot long. Those streamers are usually hanging down or flapping in the wind and easy to notice. When it is raining and the 'remove before flight' streamers are soaking wet they can stick rather tight to the fuselage. Such a streamer can be hard to see unless you are specifically looking for it and it obviously doesn't move in the wind; making it even harder to see. It wasn't until after takeoff and around 150 KTS that the streamer broke loose and began flapping in the slipstream. Because of the rain that day; the streamer most likely was stuck flat against the fuselage and easily overlooked. After I removed pins and plugs I had a handful of them which I stowed away; not realizing that I had missed anything. The final quick walk around did not reveal anything amiss either. The best and easiest way this problem could have been avoided would have been to spend a few extra seconds counting all the pins and covers before stowing them. That would have revealed that I had forgotten to remove some. Ironically; I have in fact often used and taught this practice of counting pins; but have not been consistent in doing so.

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.