After landing on ewr runway 4R and crossing 4L; the crew attempted to transition from taxiway J to r...

Narrative:

After landing on runway 4R and taxiing across 4L on taxiway J; we contacted ground for further taxi instructions. Ground asked if we could still make a hard left onto taxiway right. I immediately began a left turn and the first officer responded that we could. As the aircraft began to turn the nosewheel began to slide on the ice covered taxiway. This resulted in a wider than normal turn radius and caused us to taxi over a patch of unplowed snow in the intersection of J and right. The snow was about 5 inches deep and looked to be soft enough to continue. As the aircraft continued the turn it became clear that there were hard ice blocks under the top layer of new snow. The aircraft came to a stop (while still on taxiway J and right) and; not wanting to cause any damage to the aircraft by powering out; I called ground and explained that we would need assistance to continue. I set the parking break and we waited for the port authority to arrive and plow; shovel and deice the area around us. A tug was called and eventually we were pulled out of the snow.the taxiways were plowed; however; not to the entire width. This resulted; especially in intersections; in unplowed areas in the corners. Due to several snow storms in the weeks prior; there were hard ice blocks under the fresh new snow. The plowed portions of the taxiways were very icy; in fact; upon exiting runway 4R I told tower that the breaking action was poor on the high-speed taxiway. Since we were a ferry flight the aircraft was extremely light which did not help with traction. Clearly my error was to attempt a sharp turn under those conditions.the error was mine alone. Under very tricky taxiing conditions in a light aircraft I should not have attempted a maneuver that is normally done. Even though the aircraft never left a taxiway; I should be more wary of going over any snow covered areas.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After landing on EWR Runway 4R and crossing 4L; the crew attempted to transition from Taxiway J to R but slid off the taxiway. The aircraft was towed to the gate after authorities cleared the obstructing ice and snow.

Narrative: After landing on Runway 4R and taxiing across 4L on Taxiway J; we contacted Ground for further taxi instructions. Ground asked if we could still make a hard left onto Taxiway R. I immediately began a left turn and the First Officer responded that we could. As the aircraft began to turn the nosewheel began to slide on the ice covered taxiway. This resulted in a wider than normal turn radius and caused us to taxi over a patch of unplowed snow in the intersection of J and R. The snow was about 5 inches deep and looked to be soft enough to continue. As the aircraft continued the turn it became clear that there were hard ice blocks under the top layer of new snow. The aircraft came to a stop (while still on taxiway J and R) and; not wanting to cause any damage to the aircraft by powering out; I called Ground and explained that we would need assistance to continue. I set the parking break and we waited for the Port Authority to arrive and plow; shovel and deice the area around us. A tug was called and eventually we were pulled out of the snow.The taxiways were plowed; however; not to the entire width. This resulted; especially in intersections; in unplowed areas in the corners. Due to several snow storms in the weeks prior; there were hard ice blocks under the fresh new snow. The plowed portions of the taxiways were very icy; in fact; upon exiting Runway 4R I told Tower that the breaking action was poor on the high-speed taxiway. Since we were a ferry flight the aircraft was extremely light which did not help with traction. Clearly my error was to attempt a sharp turn under those conditions.The error was mine alone. Under very tricky taxiing conditions in a light aircraft I should not have attempted a maneuver that is normally done. Even though the aircraft never left a taxiway; I should be more wary of going over any snow covered areas.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1150296
Time
Date	201402
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	EWR.Airport
State Reference	NJ
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

After landing on ewr runway 4R and crossing 4L; the crew attempted to transition from taxiway J to right but slid off the taxiway. The aircraft was towed to the gate after authorities cleared the obstructing ice and snow.