Date: 201603
Local time of day: 0001-0600
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Weather elements / visibility: 10
Light: Dawn
Aircraft: Light Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 135
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Takeoff / Launch
Aircraft component: Fan Blade
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Not Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Human factors: Troubleshooting; Time Pressure; Distraction; Confusion
Second reporter function: First Officer; Pilot Flying
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter FOD
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: I arrived at the airport at approximately XA25 and immediately walked out to the airplane; which was parked facing west on the ramp; third or fourth position out from the crew kitchen/lounge building. At this point it was quite dark. I took a cockpit flashlight and performed an aircraft pre-flight walk-around inspection. By this time the Second in Command (SIC) was on board performing his duties; and we both discussed the apparent disarray of the interior of the plane; manuals had been taken out of their usual locations and placed in various places; as were the small floor mats. Curtains had been tucked back behind the baggage netting. I did not specifically note at that time that any specific carpet piece was missing; assuming that it was just out of place somewhere. I helped re-located some of the manuals; but then concentrated on initializing avionics; getting ATIS; etc. Soon the SIC joined me up front and we obtained our clearance from ATC. By approximately XB40 all passengers were on board and we started engines and taxied to Runway XY for takeoff (via C6; B; D; crossing Runway ZA). Before Takeoff and Lineup checklist items were performed up to arming the APR. As Pilot Flying (PF) applied power for takeoff; I heard a moderately loud yet muffled 'pop' from what seemed to be the left side. The takeoff was then aborted from a speed of approximately 20 - 30 knots. A quick scan of engine instruments did not indicate any obvious issues and the plane appeared to be well under directional control; including braking action. I called tower to announce that we were aborting and requested clearance to [return]. As we taxied by the tower; he indicated that there appeared to be a dark area above the left engine nacelle; perhaps missing panels. We now believe that he was looking at the APU inlet port that is in that general area. Upon reaching the ramp; the aircraft was parked; engines shut down and passengers disembarked.Post-shutdown inspection of the left engine indicated that some foreign object had entered the inlet; causing damage to a number of the blades and leaving traces of material between some of the blades. Factors in the chain of events...Subsequent discussion with maintenance personnel revealed that the aisle carpet piece had been placed on the left wing near the wing root sometime earlier that evening; and the aircraft had been towed to its position on the ramp and left in that state. Because of the non-standard placement of other interior carpets; aircraft manuals; and snack items I did not pursue locating the missing aisle carpet. This was the first instance in my relatively brief time with this company that I arrived to find the cabin in such a condition; by no means ready for passenger boarding. I had never seen; or heard of; carpet being placed on the wing to dry (or whatever the purpose was).This flight was launched in early morning hours in the dark. I am confident this would not have occurred in daylight conditions. Where this carpet was apparently placed was near a fairly high traffic area (passenger boarding door; etc.) on the side of the aircraft facing the best lighting available. This leads me to believe that the light-colored carpet blended in with the white wing and made it very difficult to see. I actually had to squeeze in between the left hand engine and the left wing flap in order to inspect the engine inlet area with my flashlight.Lastly but most significantly; I concur that; if indeed this carpet was on the wing; it should have been discovered on my preflight inspection. I conducted the inspection with a flashlight but do not recall seeing any carpet on the wing. Looking back; I believe that a thorough sweep of the entire top of both wings would likely have revealed this foreign material. I possessed the right tool to mitigate the poor lighting conditions; but missed a critical item. As always; the Pilot in Command (PIC) is ultimately responsible for conducting a thorough inspection to discover and/or prevent an unsafe or unairworthy condition.Corrective Steps and Lessons Learned:I see that the distraction caused by unusual situations requires even more vigilance to ensure that basic safety is not ignored or compromised. Take a step back and any required extra time to ensure that a given flight is safe to initiate; including thorough completion of all pertinent checklists.Pre-flights performed in the dark require an extra measure of attention. Assume nothing about the state of the aircraft. Assume that anything could have been placed on the plane at any location.The SIC and I have invited our Safety and Training departments to collaborate with us to help us think further through this process in the interest of safety; including any re-training steps that are advisable. Additionally; without assigning blame; we are working with them to identify and eliminate the other factors that can lead to foreign objects being left on an aircraft that has been released by Maintenance.


Second narrative: [Report narrative contained no additional information.]


Synopsis: The flight crew of a business jet reported experiencing foreign object damage to an engine at the commencement of the takeoff roll; resulting in a low speed rejected takeoff. It was later determined that the foreign object was a piece of cabin carpet that had been left on the wing to dry and went undetected prior to departure.