Narrative:

On a low IFR approach to bil, when I broke out at minimums, and had the approach lights and runway threshold light I saw an orange blinking light by the threshold. When I got a little closer, it was a snowplow pulling on to the runway. I cleared it and landed west/O incident. Driver was not paying enough attention to radio or was confused about my position. Snowplow drivers need to be sure of aircraft position before pulling on to the runway. If he would have been 1/2 mi down the runway I may not have seen him until I was rolling out, and may not have been able to avoid him. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information. Reporter corrected the time of occurrence shown or report. He also said that the control tower was closed and that the snowplow driver should have been monitoring the FSS frequency and should have been aware of the aircraft position.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: WHEN SMT BREAKS OUT OF CLOUDS AT MINIMUMS, HE SIGHTS A SNOWPLOW ENTERING THE RWY.

Narrative: ON A LOW IFR APCH TO BIL, WHEN I BROKE OUT AT MINIMUMS, AND HAD THE APCH LIGHTS AND RWY THRESHOLD LIGHT I SAW AN ORANGE BLINKING LIGHT BY THE THRESHOLD. WHEN I GOT A LITTLE CLOSER, IT WAS A SNOWPLOW PULLING ON TO THE RWY. I CLRED IT AND LANDED W/O INCIDENT. DRIVER WAS NOT PAYING ENOUGH ATTN TO RADIO OR WAS CONFUSED ABOUT MY POS. SNOWPLOW DRIVERS NEED TO BE SURE OF ACFT POS BEFORE PULLING ON TO THE RWY. IF HE WOULD HAVE BEEN 1/2 MI DOWN THE RWY I MAY NOT HAVE SEEN HIM UNTIL I WAS ROLLING OUT, AND MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO AVOID HIM. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO. REPORTER CORRECTED THE TIME OF OCCURRENCE SHOWN OR RPT. HE ALSO SAID THAT THE CTL TWR WAS CLOSED AND THAT THE SNOWPLOW DRIVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN MONITORING THE FSS FREQ AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE ACFT POS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.