Narrative:

First officer was pilot flying; uneventful flight; approach and landing. Rst runway 31 in use; condition of runway 31 was center 50 ft plowed with good braking action; remaining width of runway braking action poor. The taxiways were snow covered; edge lights were visible but taxiway markings and center lines were not visible due to snow cover. Braking on taxiways was reported as poor by the tower. I took control of the aircraft at approximately 50 KTS and slowed to taxi speed. We departed the runway on taxiway A7. There was a slight mound of snow at the entrance to the taxiway otherwise the taxiway looked uniformly covered with snow approximately 1-2 inches thick. I tested the braking action when we were straight on A7; slowed again to turning speed of approximately 7-8 KTS in preparation for turn on to taxiway a. About 3/4 of the way through the turn I felt the nose wheel skid; and shortly after that felt a shudder. Initially I believed the main wheel had encountered the deeper snow that lined the edge of the taxiway so I straightened the tiller and increased the power to approximately 40%. The aircraft did not move; so I reduced power and we called the tower for assistance. Additionally; we contacted company ramp operations and maintenance. When maintenance arrived at the aircraft they directed us to shut down. Maintenance coordinated for the aircraft to be unloaded on taxiway a; and brought crew stairs so we could depart the aircraft. Aircraft was later towed to the ramp with no apparent damage. Provide more resources to local agencies for plowing/treating taxiways.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier flight crew experiences a taxiway excursion during a turn from A7 to A; with the right main gear departing the taxiway. The taxiways were covered with snow and ice and the braking action was reported as poor.

Narrative: First Officer was pilot flying; uneventful flight; approach and landing. RST Runway 31 in use; condition of Runway 31 was center 50 FT plowed with good braking action; remaining width of runway braking action poor. The taxiways were snow covered; edge lights were visible but taxiway markings and center lines were not visible due to snow cover. Braking on taxiways was reported as poor by the Tower. I took control of the aircraft at approximately 50 KTS and slowed to taxi speed. We departed the runway on Taxiway A7. There was a slight mound of snow at the entrance to the taxiway otherwise the taxiway looked uniformly covered with snow approximately 1-2 inches thick. I tested the braking action when we were straight on A7; slowed again to turning speed of approximately 7-8 KTS in preparation for turn on to Taxiway A. About 3/4 of the way through the turn I felt the nose wheel skid; and shortly after that felt a shudder. Initially I believed the main wheel had encountered the deeper snow that lined the edge of the taxiway so I straightened the tiller and increased the power to approximately 40%. The aircraft did not move; so I reduced power and we called the Tower for assistance. Additionally; we contacted Company Ramp Operations and Maintenance. When Maintenance arrived at the aircraft they directed us to shut down. Maintenance coordinated for the aircraft to be unloaded on Taxiway A; and brought crew stairs so we could depart the aircraft. Aircraft was later towed to the ramp with no apparent damage. Provide more resources to local agencies for plowing/treating taxiways.

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.