Narrative:

At approximately XA40 when I called dispatch to inquire about the field conditions in sby; the dispatcher relayed the weather condition that was printed on the release. I then asked him to look out the window and tell me what he was seeing. Again; he just read what I was seeing on the release. Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere; I thanked him and proceeded with the flight to ZZZ. We then completed loading and pushed at XA50; at which time it had been snowing for approximately 1 hour with 1-2 inches of accumulation on ground. It took another hour before the deicing was complete and we were cleared for takeoff to sby. I was the pilot flying on this leg. Approximately 40 miles outside of sby; I asked the first officer to get the weather and call operations and inquire about the field conditions. The ASOS was reporting 1 mile visibility; light snow; 500 ft overcast and the winds at 030 degrees at 6 KTS. I also instructed the first officer to ask operations what they thought the winds were; because the ASOS has been known to report inaccurate wind and weather conditions in the past. When the first officer reported back; he stated that the operations people felt that the winds were more like 15 KTS gusting to 20 KTS with light snow; and that airport personnel were clearing the runway and would need 10 minutes before they would be clear. They also asked to call them back when we were getting close to the airport and that the braking action was fair to good at that time. With all checklists and briefs complete; we notified center that we may need to hold at the OM due to the snow removal operation at the airport. They then issued the hold clearance at the OM and asked us to report back when we were ready for the approach. Once we hit the OM and began the procedure turn outbound; the snow removal crew called us back and said they were clear of the runway. When they called us for the approach; which for the most part was smooth until the last 500 ft; we broke out at about 500 ft AGL with about 1 mile visibility and moderate snow. At 200 ft AGL; I call for flaps 35 degrees at which time the aircraft ballooned slightly. We touched down just past 1/3 of the way down the runway with a quartering tailwind that was pushing us to the left side of the runway. I was able to correct for the wind and bring the aircraft back to the centerline until the aircraft slowed below 60 KTS and I had no rudder authority left. At this time the aircraft began to weathervane to the right approximately 30-40 degrees off runway heading. Realizing that the aircraft was not in a position to go around; I locked the brakes up and turned the tiller to the left in an attempt to regain control of the aircraft. With the aircraft now sliding for the right side of the runway with what looked like no change to regain control due to nil braking; I put both engines in full reverse to stop the forward momentum. The aircraft then came to a full stop approximately 3 ft from the right side of the runway; with the nose 30 degrees off centerline and 1;500 ft from the end. After stopping on the runway; I set the parking brake and brought the engines out of reverse. Once the engines were back in beta; the aircraft once again began to slide forward. At that time I released the parking brake and slowly crept to the ramp. The aircraft did fishtail and slide several times on our way to the gate. Once out of the aircraft; I would estimate that the winds were at least 30 KTS gusting to 35 KTS with moderate snow. Once at the gate; I talked with the dispatch supervisor; who I relayed the above account of our experience. Have the ASOS relocated so that it properly reports the weather. Have dispatcher trained as weather observer in the chance that the ASOS is down. Have airport personnel better trained in snow removal and braking action.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A light transport aircraft landed at SBY with inaccurate wind and runway condition reports and lost control of the aircraft after landing. Control was regained and the aircraft taxied to the gate. The ASOS is apparently not positioned for reliable information.

Narrative: At approximately XA40 when I called dispatch to inquire about the field conditions in SBY; the Dispatcher relayed the weather condition that was printed on the release. I then asked him to look out the window and tell me what he was seeing. Again; he just read what I was seeing on the release. Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere; I thanked him and proceeded with the flight to ZZZ. We then completed loading and pushed at XA50; at which time it had been snowing for approximately 1 hour with 1-2 inches of accumulation on ground. It took another hour before the deicing was complete and we were cleared for takeoff to SBY. I was the pilot flying on this leg. Approximately 40 miles outside of SBY; I asked the First Officer to get the weather and call operations and inquire about the field conditions. The ASOS was reporting 1 mile visibility; light snow; 500 FT overcast and the winds at 030 degrees at 6 KTS. I also instructed the First Officer to ask operations what they thought the winds were; because the ASOS has been known to report inaccurate wind and weather conditions in the past. When the First Officer reported back; he stated that the operations people felt that the winds were more like 15 KTS gusting to 20 KTS with light snow; and that airport personnel were clearing the runway and would need 10 minutes before they would be clear. They also asked to call them back when we were getting close to the airport and that the braking action was fair to good at that time. With all checklists and briefs complete; we notified center that we may need to hold at the OM due to the snow removal operation at the airport. They then issued the hold clearance at the OM and asked us to report back when we were ready for the approach. Once we hit the OM and began the procedure turn outbound; the snow removal crew called us back and said they were clear of the runway. When they called us for the approach; which for the most part was smooth until the last 500 FT; we broke out at about 500 FT AGL with about 1 mile visibility and moderate snow. At 200 FT AGL; I call for flaps 35 degrees at which time the aircraft ballooned slightly. We touched down just past 1/3 of the way down the runway with a quartering tailwind that was pushing us to the left side of the runway. I was able to correct for the wind and bring the aircraft back to the centerline until the aircraft slowed below 60 KTS and I had no rudder authority left. At this time the aircraft began to weathervane to the right approximately 30-40 degrees off runway heading. Realizing that the aircraft was not in a position to go around; I locked the brakes up and turned the tiller to the left in an attempt to regain control of the aircraft. With the aircraft now sliding for the right side of the runway with what looked like no change to regain control due to nil braking; I put both engines in full reverse to stop the forward momentum. The aircraft then came to a full stop approximately 3 FT from the right side of the runway; with the nose 30 degrees off centerline and 1;500 FT from the end. After stopping on the runway; I set the parking brake and brought the engines out of reverse. Once the engines were back in beta; the aircraft once again began to slide forward. At that time I released the parking brake and slowly crept to the ramp. The aircraft did fishtail and slide several times on our way to the gate. Once out of the aircraft; I would estimate that the winds were at least 30 KTS gusting to 35 KTS with moderate snow. Once at the gate; I talked with the Dispatch Supervisor; who I relayed the above account of our experience. Have the ASOS relocated so that it properly reports the weather. Have Dispatcher trained as weather observer in the chance that the ASOS is down. Have airport personnel better trained in snow removal and braking action.

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.