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A B747-400 slid and yawed uncontrollably about 120 degrees with the brakes applied as it turned toward its gate on a taxiway in freezing rain.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 819162 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200901 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B747-400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 6300 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
We were taxiing in after approach to runway. It had been snowing all night and conditions were poor at best during taxi. It was very difficult because of lack of visual reference. Most if not all taxi lights were covered in snow all the taxiways were also covered and we could not see taxi lines. It took the effort of all just to keep aircraft on taxiway. We turned toward the international ramp. All the taxi signs were also covered in snow making situational awareness difficult. As we started turning right to parallel the ramp; the aircraft started to yaw to the right uncontrollably stopping after about 120 degrees of yaw. The captain was on the brakes but there was no stopping it. We were not sure why it started; other than a gust or another aircraft. Conditions were slick to say the least. After we stopped; we taxied to the gate without further event. We were not sure if we clipped a taxi light during this yaw; so when we were parked we checked the gear for damage but could not find any. Taxiing an aircraft of this size during these conditions proved to be very difficult as our margin for error is small.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B747-400 slid and yawed uncontrollably about 120 degrees with the brakes applied as it turned toward its gate on a taxiway in freezing rain.
Narrative: We were taxiing in after approach to runway. It had been snowing all night and conditions were poor at best during taxi. It was very difficult because of lack of visual reference. Most if not all taxi lights were covered in snow All the taxiways were also covered and we could not see taxi lines. It took the effort of all just to keep aircraft on taxiway. We turned toward the International ramp. All the taxi signs were also covered in snow making situational awareness difficult. As we started turning right to parallel the ramp; the aircraft started to yaw to the right uncontrollably stopping after about 120 degrees of yaw. The Captain was on the brakes but there was no stopping it. We were not sure why it started; other than a gust or another aircraft. Conditions were slick to say the least. After we stopped; we taxied to the gate without further event. We were not sure if we clipped a taxi light during this yaw; so when we were parked we checked the gear for damage but could not find any. Taxiing an aircraft of this size during these conditions proved to be very difficult as our margin for error is small.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.