Narrative:

I had just taken the local controller 1 position and we were in snow removal operations. The weather was snowing and visibility was between 3/4 mile and 1 mile; dependent upon the quadrant. During the position relief briefing; I had noted on our magnetic snow operations board the location of snow removal vehicles on the only operational runway; runway 29R; just past taxiway alpha 9 west bound. I had not yet configured my strip bays to my operational preference from that of the previous controller in order to depict this information. It was then that a lear called ready for departure. I entered lear's transponder code in the ARTS keypad; requested a release from D01 via the 'rundown list'. I was still configuring my strip bays to my preferences when the release was granted. I issued the standard heading and cleared the lear for take off. Immediately my ground controller and controller in charge notified me that snow removal vehicles were still on the runway. I immediately instructed the lear to hold short and the aircraft read back cancel take off clearance and continue holding short. I then expedited the exiting of the snow removal vehicles from the runway. Once they were confirmed clear; I reissued take off clearance for the lear. The aircraft did not cross the hold line before the error was detected and the subsequent hold short instruction was issued. Recommendation; this incident occurred for two reasons. First and foremost; I had not reconfigured my strip bay to concur and depict the location of snow removal equipment on my runway. Second; I was conscientious of the rapid accumulation of snow on the taxiing aircraft and attempted to expedite his departure to avoid the necessity of deicing the aircraft again. In the future; I must reconfigure my strip bays prior to issuing any control instructions. During snow removal operations; in addition to the snow board depiction; I must ensure my strip bays show the location of vehicles on my runways. The positive side of this incident is how well our system worked here; given that both my controller in charge and ground controller were cognizant enough to immediately intervene. Also; the person in the operations vehicle spoke up as I was rescinding the take off clearance. Even when I massively screwed up; our system prevented an error; incident; or accident. I just need to do my part better next time.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller failing to reconfigure the strip bay to indicate runway occupancy after assuming the Local Control position issued a take off clearance with vehicles on the runway.

Narrative: I had just taken the Local Controller 1 position and we were in snow removal operations. The weather was snowing and visibility was between 3/4 mile and 1 mile; dependent upon the quadrant. During the position relief briefing; I had noted on our magnetic snow operations board the location of snow removal vehicles on the only operational runway; Runway 29R; just past Taxiway Alpha 9 west bound. I had not yet configured my strip bays to my operational preference from that of the previous controller in order to depict this information. It was then that a Lear called ready for departure. I entered Lear's transponder code in the ARTS keypad; requested a release from D01 via the 'rundown list'. I was still configuring my strip bays to my preferences when the release was granted. I issued the standard heading and cleared the Lear for take off. Immediately my Ground Controller and CIC notified me that snow removal vehicles were still on the runway. I immediately instructed the Lear to hold short and the aircraft read back cancel take off clearance and continue holding short. I then expedited the exiting of the snow removal vehicles from the runway. Once they were confirmed clear; I reissued take off clearance for the Lear. The aircraft did not cross the hold line before the error was detected and the subsequent hold short instruction was issued. Recommendation; this incident occurred for two reasons. First and foremost; I had not reconfigured my strip bay to concur and depict the location of snow removal equipment on my runway. Second; I was conscientious of the rapid accumulation of snow on the taxiing aircraft and attempted to expedite his departure to avoid the necessity of deicing the aircraft again. In the future; I must reconfigure my strip bays prior to issuing any control instructions. During snow removal operations; in addition to the snow board depiction; I must ensure my strip bays show the location of vehicles on my runways. The positive side of this incident is how well our system worked here; given that both my CIC and Ground Controller were cognizant enough to immediately intervene. Also; the person in the operations vehicle spoke up as I was rescinding the take off clearance. Even when I massively screwed up; our system prevented an error; incident; or accident. I just need to do my part better next time.

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.