Narrative:

On preflight there was a large buildup of ice and snow from the previous night's snowstorm. We taxied for deicing. After deicing, there were large amounts of glycol on the windows. I turned on the windshield wiper to clear it off and it just made it even more difficult to see. Our taxi clearance was to proceed to runway 6L via the violet taxi route. This was the first time that myself or the captain had received this type of clearance at cle. We began to taxi and began to have difficulty following the route. When taxiway J split, we became unsure of which way to proceed. The taxiway sign was covered partially in snow. I thought the arrow pointed to the right when it pointed to the left. We made a wrong turn and was corrected by ground control. With the sign covered in snow, and the wind screen covered in glycol, it made it very difficult to see. We should have waited until the windows were cleared and should have stopped and clarified our taxi route. Or at the least, stopped long enough to refer to the airport diagram for guidance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TXWY INCURSION WHEN THE FLC OF A TAXIING DO328 MAKES THE WRONG TURN WHEN ATTEMPTING TO FOLLOW THE VIOLET TXWY RTE TO RWY 6L AT CLE, OH.

Narrative: ON PREFLT THERE WAS A LARGE BUILDUP OF ICE AND SNOW FROM THE PREVIOUS NIGHT'S SNOWSTORM. WE TAXIED FOR DEICING. AFTER DEICING, THERE WERE LARGE AMOUNTS OF GLYCOL ON THE WINDOWS. I TURNED ON THE WINDSHIELD WIPER TO CLR IT OFF AND IT JUST MADE IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO SEE. OUR TAXI CLRNC WAS TO PROCEED TO RWY 6L VIA THE VIOLET TAXI RTE. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT MYSELF OR THE CAPT HAD RECEIVED THIS TYPE OF CLRNC AT CLE. WE BEGAN TO TAXI AND BEGAN TO HAVE DIFFICULTY FOLLOWING THE RTE. WHEN TXWY J SPLIT, WE BECAME UNSURE OF WHICH WAY TO PROCEED. THE TXWY SIGN WAS COVERED PARTIALLY IN SNOW. I THOUGHT THE ARROW POINTED TO THE R WHEN IT POINTED TO THE L. WE MADE A WRONG TURN AND WAS CORRECTED BY GND CTL. WITH THE SIGN COVERED IN SNOW, AND THE WIND SCREEN COVERED IN GLYCOL, IT MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE. WE SHOULD HAVE WAITED UNTIL THE WINDOWS WERE CLRED AND SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AND CLARIFIED OUR TAXI RTE. OR AT THE LEAST, STOPPED LONG ENOUGH TO REFER TO THE ARPT DIAGRAM FOR GUIDANCE.

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.