Local controller cleared an aircraft for takeoff on a runway on which he had previously cleared an a...

Narrative:

Working local control; the 'hot box' on the strip board had the runway unusable 'flipper' was down for runway 2R. Vehicle X was working the intersections of runway 2R and approved on the runway. I was working a PA-18 in the pattern for the 'ski strip' and; in order to do so; you pretty much ignore the 'unusable' indication of the 'flipper' because that portion of the hotbox is a 'shared' area for both runway 2R and ski strip 2. A PA-31 called me ready for runway 2R; and I was just in the habit of looking out the windows following my PA-18 around; and I didn't look at the 'hotbox.' I cleared the PA-31 for takeoff and a few seconds later; vehicle X called me on the radio saying he was exiting runway 2R. I had verified vehicle X was holding short prior to the PA-31 beginning takeoff roll; but had vehicle X not heard me clear the PA-31 for takeoff and exited on his own; nothing was done to prevent the PA-31 from taking off with a vehicle approved on his runway.I should have scanned my 'hotbox' before clearing the PA-31 for takeoff. If there was some way to de-combine the hotboxes for runway 2R and ski strip 2 that would be helpful in preventing a repeat occurrence; however I do not see a practical way of doing that.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Local Controller cleared an aircraft for takeoff on a runway on which he had previously cleared an airport vehicle. Vehicle cleared the runway after hearing Controller issue clearance to the aircraft.

Narrative: Working Local Control; the 'hot box' on the strip board had the runway unusable 'flipper' was down for Runway 2R. Vehicle X was working the intersections of Runway 2R and approved on the runway. I was working a PA-18 in the pattern for the 'Ski Strip' and; in order to do so; you pretty much ignore the 'unusable' indication of the 'flipper' because that portion of the hotbox is a 'shared' area for both Runway 2R and Ski Strip 2. A PA-31 called me ready for Runway 2R; and I was just in the habit of looking out the windows following my PA-18 around; and I didn't look at the 'hotbox.' I cleared the PA-31 for takeoff and a few seconds later; Vehicle X called me on the radio saying he was exiting Runway 2R. I had verified Vehicle X was holding short prior to the PA-31 beginning takeoff roll; but had Vehicle X not heard me clear the PA-31 for takeoff and exited on his own; nothing was done to prevent the PA-31 from taking off with a vehicle approved on his runway.I should have scanned my 'hotbox' before clearing the PA-31 for takeoff. If there was some way to de-combine the hotboxes for Runway 2R and Ski Strip 2 that would be helpful in preventing a repeat occurrence; however I do not see a practical way of doing that.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	1019446
Time
Date	201206
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Tower
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-31 Navajo/Chieftan/Mojave/T1040
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Local controller cleared an aircraft for takeoff on a runway on which he had previously cleared an airport vehicle. Vehicle cleared the runway after hearing controller issue clearance to the aircraft.