Date: 201911
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: B737-700
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Takeoff / Launch
ATC / advisory: Tower ZZZ
Aircraft component: Pitot-Static System
Component problem: Failed
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Flying; First Officer
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Commercial
Human factors: Distraction; Troubleshooting
Second reporter function: Captain; Pilot Not Flying
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: During my preflight walk around; I was looking at the left side landing light. It looked inoperative but with the side light it was hard to tell. So I looked at the right side to compare what it should look like and confirmed that the left side was out. So at that point I continued on with my walk around. Once I got back up to the flight deck I informed the Captain of the inoperative landing light where he then completed the MEL with Maintenance Control. After pushback and engine start; it was noticed that the Captain's pitot heat light was illuminated. I continued with my After Start Flow and then we did the Before Taxi Checklist. Once that was completed we ran the QRH for the Captain Pitot light and determined it needed to be MELed. Once the paperwork was completed we continued to the runway.During the takeoff roll; where I was the Pilot Flying; the Captain called for the reject around 70 kts. We cleared the runway and ran brake cooling and determined it was safe to proceed back to the gate. Once at the gate the Captain asked me to do a quick walk around of the aircraft. As soon as I got down to the aircraft I noticed that the Captain-side pitot tube was missing from the aircraft. I was not part of the conversation that determined when the pitot tube may have departed the aircraft; but was informed that I must have missed that it was missing during my walk around. Shortly after that I recalled that after looking at the lights I must have never went back to the Captain side of the nose to start the preflight from my normal starting point. This event was a great reminder that when doing [an] important task; once you get distracted you should always start from the beginning and start the task over again so important items aren't missed.


Second narrative: FO (First Officer) returned from exterior preflight and informed me that the left fixed landing light was inoperative. We confirmed this and MELed it. After pushback; we accomplished After Start Flow and the 'Captain Pitot' light stayed on. Circuit breaker was in; and we contacted Dispatch and Maintenance via phone to MEL this. We were able to continue per the MEL and taxied for takeoff. On the takeoff roll; I noticed; at about 70 kts on the FO's side; that I had no airspeed indication. I rejected the takeoff at that point; we cleared the runway; ran the brake cooling numbers; and requested taxi back to the gate. A three minute cooling at the gate was returned.At the gate; after writing up the discrepancy; I asked the FO to do a walk around; as we were going to terminate the aircraft and likely would not take this aircraft out. He returned immediately and informed me that the entire pitot tube was missing. I was met on the jet way by Company Maintenance Personnel; working on another aircraft. After discussing various possible ways the pitot tube could have been torn off; we suspected that it had happened in or out of the gate the previous night; or on the remote pad where the aircraft overnighted. Shortly thereafter; the actual pitot tube was found on the Ramp at the remote pad. We simply missed the pitot tube damage on the originating exterior preflight. We clearly missed the damaged/missing pitot tube on preflight. The FO could have been distracted by the actual runway turnoff light in his face; or by attempting to tell if; in fact; a left fixed landing light was inoperative. Regardless; we missed the damage. We MELed the cockpit indication correctly and applied all MEL procedures properly; to my knowledge.


Synopsis: B737-700 flight crew reported a rejected takeoff due to a lack of airspeed indication on the Captain's side.