Narrative:

After taxiing into position and hold on the runway, the pilot of another aircraft on the ramp somewhere said to the tower that we might want to check for damage because we ran over a light. We taxied off and company mechanics checked us and found no evidence of having struck anything. We took off for an uneventful flight to oakland. Mechanics checked us again and found no evidence of damage either. I am not sure we really hit the light. When we finally took off we looked for a damaged light, and all we saw was a missing one which was a middle one from a line of lights. There was a snow berm on the taxi side of the row of lights, and no tracks were visible through it. As the captain taxied onto the runway we did not seem that close to me. Perhaps the other pilot saw a light fall over from our blast and assumed we had hit it. During night hours taxi/runway lights are of course easy to see whether or not any snow is nearby. During daytime the lights can become hidden amongst the various berms and snow piles left by the snow removal equipment. At busy points snow should be thoroughly removed from the areas around lights and other obstructions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: WHEN FLT CREW OF LGT WERE TAXIING OUT FOR TKOF AT DEN ANOTHER AIR CARRIER SAID THEY MIGHT WANT TO CHK THEIR GEAR FOR DAMAGE AS IT APPEARED THEY HAD HIT A RWY LIGHT. GEAR WAS EXAMINED BY COMPANY MECHS AND NO DAMAGE FOUND OR INDICATION THAT A LIGHT HAD BEEN SCRAPED BY THAT ACFT'S TIRE OR GEAR.

Narrative: AFTER TAXIING INTO POS AND HOLD ON THE RWY, THE PLT OF ANOTHER ACFT ON THE RAMP SOMEWHERE SAID TO THE TWR THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO CHK FOR DAMAGE BECAUSE WE RAN OVER A LIGHT. WE TAXIED OFF AND COMPANY MECHS CHKED US AND FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF HAVING STRUCK ANYTHING. WE TOOK OFF FOR AN UNEVENTFUL FLT TO OAKLAND. MECHS CHKED US AGAIN AND FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF DAMAGE EITHER. I AM NOT SURE WE REALLY HIT THE LIGHT. WHEN WE FINALLY TOOK OFF WE LOOKED FOR A DAMAGED LIGHT, AND ALL WE SAW WAS A MISSING ONE WHICH WAS A MIDDLE ONE FROM A LINE OF LIGHTS. THERE WAS A SNOW BERM ON THE TAXI SIDE OF THE ROW OF LIGHTS, AND NO TRACKS WERE VISIBLE THROUGH IT. AS THE CAPT TAXIED ONTO THE RWY WE DID NOT SEEM THAT CLOSE TO ME. PERHAPS THE OTHER PLT SAW A LIGHT FALL OVER FROM OUR BLAST AND ASSUMED WE HAD HIT IT. DURING NIGHT HRS TAXI/RWY LIGHTS ARE OF COURSE EASY TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT ANY SNOW IS NEARBY. DURING DAYTIME THE LIGHTS CAN BECOME HIDDEN AMONGST THE VARIOUS BERMS AND SNOW PILES LEFT BY THE SNOW REMOVAL EQUIP. AT BUSY POINTS SNOW SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY REMOVED FROM THE AREAS AROUND LIGHTS AND OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS.

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.