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Dhc-8 gets stuck in a snow bank on the ramp. Blowing snow and poor braking action contributed to the event.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 816840 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200812 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : zzz.airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Altitude | agl single value : 0 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Dawn |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | Dash 8-100 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | ground : taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | flight crew : captain oversight : pic |
| Qualification | pilot : atp |
| ASRS Report | 816840 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ground encounters other inflight encounter : weather other anomaly |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : detected after the fact other |
| Consequence | other |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | Flight Crew Human Performance Weather Environmental Factor |
| Primary Problem | Environmental Factor |
Narrative:
The tower was calling the visibility about 1 mile with blowing snow. The wind was blowing at over 20 kts. The taxiways were covered with compacted snow; and as we were taxiing in; we experienced extremely low visibility (near white-out) due to the blowing snow. As we were taxiing to the ramp; we were taxiing eastbound on taxiway C. I noticed an airbus parked on the end of the a terminal. With the braking action on the taxiways reported as 'poor;' and the wind blowing over 20 kts; I decided to stay well clear of the airbus. We were still on the taxiway; and not anywhere close to the edge of the taxiway. I was taxiing very slowly because of the reduced visibility. Then all of a sudden; almost directly in front of us appeared a snow bank. We were approximately 25 ft from the edge of the taxiway; and never expected to see the snow so deep that far from the edge of the taxiway. I turned the airplane to the left to avoid the snow bank; but the right main gear got stuck in the deep snow. We called operations and they sent out a tug and a towbar. We shut down the engines; they pushed us back out of the snow; then we started the engines back up and taxied to the gate. After shutting down at the gate; I inspected the right main gear and called my dispatcher and conferred with maintenance control. Maintenance control decided that since it was only stuck in snow; and there was no damage to the gear; wheels; tires; or brakes; that we did not need to make a maintenance write-up and we continued on our day.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: DHC-8 gets stuck in a snow bank on the ramp. Blowing snow and poor braking action contributed to the event.
Narrative: The Tower was calling the visibility about 1 mile with blowing snow. The wind was blowing at over 20 kts. The taxiways were covered with compacted snow; and as we were taxiing in; we experienced extremely low visibility (near white-out) due to the blowing snow. As we were taxiing to the ramp; we were taxiing eastbound on Taxiway C. I noticed an Airbus parked on the end of the A Terminal. With the braking action on the taxiways reported as 'poor;' and the wind blowing over 20 kts; I decided to stay well clear of the Airbus. We were still on the taxiway; and not anywhere close to the edge of the taxiway. I was taxiing very slowly because of the reduced visibility. Then all of a sudden; almost directly in front of us appeared a snow bank. We were approximately 25 ft from the edge of the taxiway; and never expected to see the snow so deep that far from the edge of the taxiway. I turned the airplane to the left to avoid the snow bank; but the right main gear got stuck in the deep snow. We called Operations and they sent out a tug and a towbar. We shut down the engines; they pushed us back out of the snow; then we started the engines back up and taxied to the gate. After shutting down at the gate; I inspected the right main gear and called my Dispatcher and conferred with Maintenance Control. Maintenance Control decided that since it was only stuck in snow; and there was no damage to the gear; wheels; tires; or brakes; that we did not need to make a maintenance write-up and we continued on our day.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.