Narrative:

Fai IFR weather morning with constant snow showers moving through the airport area. B190 was on local control frequency and holding short of runway 2L full length for wake turbulence from a B737 that had previously departed the runway opposite direction. Following the appropriate interval; the B190 was cleared for takeoff. As part of my runway scan during the departure roll I noticed the PA31 in the vicinity of the runway at taxiway bravo and I began to think the aircraft may be across the hold lines. Simultaneously; the controller working ground control was commenting that the PA31 would be ready to depart upon reaching full length. This comment immediately made me uneasy and I asked ground control if the aircraft was holding short while I grabbed binoculars to get a better view. While the ground control was telling me that he had issued hold short instructions it was clear through the binoculars that the PA31 was beyond the hold lines; so I immediately canceled the takeoff clearance for the B190 and informed him an aircraft was on the runway at bravo. The B190 had definitely started their departure roll by the time I canceled the takeoff clearance; but was able to come to a stop quickly and probably was not past taxiway golf and still thousands of feet from the PA31. The B190 asked if they should exit the runway and I instructed them to line up and wait for the few moments it would take the other aircraft to clear the runway. Ground control simultaneously issued instructions and got the PA31 clear of the runway. Prior to issuing the B190 another takeoff clearance I did another scan of the runway and double-checked that the PA31 was holding short at taxiway bravo again. The runway was clear; so the B190 received a takeoff clearance and departed without further incident. The PA31 subsequently departed without further incident as well. An flm was present in the tower cab during the event. I subsequently informed the atm of the event and asked the flm to make the appropriate entries on the daily log. Ground control forgot to issue the required phraseology associated with a possible pilot deviation; so we contacted anchorage center and asked them to relay the information; though I am fairly confident the pilot was already well aware of the situation. I also subsequently called airport operations and requested the snow removal operators attempt to clear the snow from the hold short lines on taxiway bravo to the east of runway 2L/20R. There were contributing factors to this event with regard to the airport's snow removal operations. It is a known fact that the airport's snow removal plan gives a higher priority to the clearing and improving of conditions on runway 2L/20R and the connected taxiways. This morning; runway 2R/20L had been closed because the snow removal was focusing instead on the instrument runway. Their complete disregard for giving any priority to addressing the snow removal on the parallel runway created the opportunity for this morning's event because the closure of the parallel runway precipitates an abnormally high number of runway crossings. We have two very busy air taxi operators on the east side of the airfield and both have numerous scheduled departures. I spoke with airport operations personnel approximately an hour to an hour and a half before this incident to remind them that if the snow removal did not address the smaller runway before our air taxi operators began their operations it would create a less than ideal situation for everyone involved. Operations acknowledged the concern and indicated that the snow removal operators were aware of the situation; but that they had been short-staffed this morning and were just at that time getting some more people in to work. There is a clear disconnect here between the FAA's priority of reducing unnecessary runway crossings in the hope of preventing incidents such as this and the airport's priority of keeping the instrument landing runway in good condition. Either way; an open and usable parallel runway would have completely prevented this incident. Recommendation; ATC functioned as required; identifying the situation and taking corrective action in a timely manner. Airport snow removal needs to give a higher priority to keeping runway 2R/20L open and available; or at least they need to ensure the hold lines on taxiway bravo to the east of runway 2L/20R are not obscured by snow/ice.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FAI Controller described a runway incursion event allegedly due to snow obscuring the runway hold lines; the reporter expressing concern regarding the airport's snow removal priority policy.

Narrative: FAI IFR weather morning with constant snow showers moving through the airport area. B190 was on Local Control frequency and holding short of Runway 2L full length for wake turbulence from a B737 that had previously departed the runway opposite direction. Following the appropriate interval; the B190 was cleared for takeoff. As part of my runway scan during the departure roll I noticed the PA31 in the vicinity of the runway at Taxiway Bravo and I began to think the aircraft may be across the hold lines. Simultaneously; the Controller working Ground Control was commenting that the PA31 would be ready to depart upon reaching full length. This comment immediately made me uneasy and I asked Ground Control if the aircraft was holding short while I grabbed binoculars to get a better view. While the Ground Control was telling me that he had issued hold short instructions it was clear through the binoculars that the PA31 was beyond the hold lines; so I immediately canceled the takeoff clearance for the B190 and informed him an aircraft was on the runway at Bravo. The B190 had definitely started their departure roll by the time I canceled the takeoff clearance; but was able to come to a stop quickly and probably was not past Taxiway Golf and still thousands of feet from the PA31. The B190 asked if they should exit the runway and I instructed them to line up and wait for the few moments it would take the other aircraft to clear the runway. Ground Control simultaneously issued instructions and got the PA31 clear of the runway. Prior to issuing the B190 another takeoff clearance I did another scan of the runway and double-checked that the PA31 was holding short at Taxiway Bravo again. The runway was clear; so the B190 received a takeoff clearance and departed without further incident. The PA31 subsequently departed without further incident as well. An FLM was present in the Tower cab during the event. I subsequently informed the ATM of the event and asked the FLM to make the appropriate entries on the daily log. Ground Control forgot to issue the required phraseology associated with a possible pilot deviation; so we contacted Anchorage Center and asked them to relay the information; though I am fairly confident the pilot was already well aware of the situation. I also subsequently called Airport Operations and requested the snow removal operators attempt to clear the snow from the hold short lines on Taxiway Bravo to the east of Runway 2L/20R. There were contributing factors to this event with regard to the airport's snow removal operations. It is a known fact that the airport's snow removal plan gives a higher priority to the clearing and improving of conditions on Runway 2L/20R and the connected taxiways. This morning; Runway 2R/20L had been closed because the snow removal was focusing instead on the instrument runway. Their complete disregard for giving any priority to addressing the snow removal on the parallel runway created the opportunity for this morning's event because the closure of the parallel runway precipitates an abnormally high number of runway crossings. We have two very busy air taxi operators on the east side of the airfield and both have numerous scheduled departures. I spoke with Airport Operations personnel approximately an hour to an hour and a half before this incident to remind them that if the snow removal did not address the smaller runway before our Air Taxi Operators began their operations it would create a less than ideal situation for everyone involved. Operations acknowledged the concern and indicated that the snow removal operators were aware of the situation; but that they had been short-staffed this morning and were just at that time getting some more people in to work. There is a clear disconnect here between the FAA's priority of reducing unnecessary runway crossings in the hope of preventing incidents such as this and the airport's priority of keeping the instrument landing runway in good condition. Either way; an open and usable parallel runway would have completely prevented this incident. Recommendation; ATC functioned as required; identifying the situation and taking corrective action in a timely manner. Airport snow removal needs to give a higher priority to keeping Runway 2R/20L open and available; or at least they need to ensure the hold lines on Taxiway Bravo to the east of Runway 2L/20R are not obscured by snow/ice.

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.