Tower controller cancelled a takeoff clearance after observing a sweeper entering the runway; the re...

Narrative:

During my two minute overlap having been relieved from local; I observed a sweeper vehicle going onto runway 15 at taxiway B immediately after hearing my relief clear an aircraft for takeoff. Local noticed the same thing and immediately cancelled the aircraft's takeoff clearance. The vehicle was then instructed to report off of the runway. This was a fairly new ground controller working snow removal operations for one of the first times. He was certified on the position in a time where snow removal wasn't happening. There may or may not be any refresher training conducted on snow removal operations here and the cpcs that have been around a while can manage; but new people have no actual training on the operation; depending on when they were training. This should be looked at and corrected. Recommend at a minimum; a training class with current cpc be a requirement before working ground control for anyone not trained in the actual operation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller cancelled a takeoff clearance after observing a sweeper entering the runway; the reporter noting the Ground Controller was inexperienced working snow removal operations and failing to coordinate with Local.

Narrative: During my two minute overlap having been relieved from Local; I observed a sweeper vehicle going onto Runway 15 at Taxiway B immediately after hearing my relief clear an aircraft for takeoff. Local noticed the same thing and immediately cancelled the aircraft's takeoff clearance. The vehicle was then instructed to report off of the runway. This was a fairly new Ground Controller working snow removal operations for one of the first times. He was certified on the position in a time where snow removal wasn't happening. There may or may not be any refresher training conducted on snow removal operations here and the CPCs that have been around a while can manage; but new people have no actual training on the operation; depending on when they were training. This should be looked at and corrected. Recommend at a minimum; a training class with current CPC be a requirement before working Ground Control for anyone not trained in the actual operation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	1055253
Time
Date	201212
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citation II S2/Bravo (C550)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Other / Unknown
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Tower controller cancelled a takeoff clearance after observing a sweeper entering the runway; the reporter noting the ground controller was inexperienced working snow removal operations and failing to coordinate with local.